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COPYRIGHT DEPOSrr 



Young People's History 



OF 



Virginia and Virginians 



BY 

DABNBY HERNDON MAURY 

Author of "Recollections of a Virginian" and of "Maury's Di-ill for 
Mounted Men " 



B. F. Johnson Publishing Co. 
Atlanta RICHMOx\D Dallas 






LIBRBITV nt CONGRESS 

TWO Oooles i^eMiived 
SEP 8 1904 
Cooyrleht Entry 

CLASS CL xXo. No. 

' COPY B 



Copyright, 1896, 1904, 

BY 
Dabney H. Maury 



^ 



I dedicate this little book 

TO MY DAtTGHTER, 

who urged me to write it. 

During the early morning hours of last 

summer, I penned the rough pages, which 

she rewrote. Whatever may be found of 

grace or beauty herein is hers. 

The Author 



INTRODUCTION 

T" HAVE been induced to write this little book in the hope 
that a brief recital of the history of my native State may 
awaken in my young countrymen a higher appreciation of 
the intelligence, courage and patriotism of their forefathers, 
by imparting a more exact knowledge. of the sacrifices which 
they made and of the prominent part they bore in the es- 
tablishment of civil and religious liberty on this continent, 
and in the upbuilding of the great American Republic, 
designed to transmit to their posterity the priceless heritage 
won by their valor; and, also, for the purpose of counter- 
vailing the false impressions made by so many of the histo- 
ries which have been, and are even now, used in our schools, 
as to the motives which inspired the conduct of their fathers 
in the events leading up to and culminating in the great 
struggle of i86i-'65. 

That the Virginians of 1861 were inspired by the same 
patriotic spirit which animated the Virginians of 1776; that 
they contended for the right of self-government as taught 
in the Declaration of Independence, and in withdrawing 
from the Union exercised a right which arose out of the very 
nature and history of the Federal Constitution, cannot be 
denied by any honest, candid, intelligent student of our 
country's history. While this is true, the Virginian of to-day 
recognizing that the Union established by his fathers, founded 
upon the consent of the States, has, by the arbitrament of 
battle, been converted into "an indissoluble Union of inde- 
[5] 



6 Introduction 

structible States," is as loyal to the new Union, and modified 
Constitution, to which he looks as the palladium of human 
liberty, as his fathers were to the old, and is as ready to shed 
his blood in its defence. 

In the preparation of this work I have freely availed myself 
of the admirable books of John Esten Cooke, Miss McGill, 
Mrs. Susan Pendleton Lee and Philip A. Bruce. 

I have not found occasion to tell the history of any other 
State or people save Virginia and her sons. Her glories 
are all her own. She has no shame. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



Chapter page 

I Columbtxs — Effect of His Discoveries— John Cabot — 
Queen Elizabeth — Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir 

Humphrey Gilbert — Their Voyages 9 

II The Fate of Raleigh— The Virginia Company — The 
First Charter — Expedition under Newport — 
Settlement of Jamestown — Captain John Smith 19 

III The Indians 27 

IV The Colony — Hostility of the Indians — Sickness — The 
Gold Fever — Smith's Explorations — His Cap- 
ture and Rescue by Pocahontas 36 

V Smith Explores Chesapeake Bay — An Addition to the 
Colony — Coronation of Powhatan — Scarcity of 
Corn — Smith's Visit to Powhatan and Opecanca- 

nough — Lord Delaware 43 

VI The Shipwrecked Colonists Upon Bermuda — Arrival 
in Virginia- — Smith Deposed — His Accident and 
Departure — Troubles of the Colony — "The 
Starving Time" — Jamestown Deserted — Arrival 

of Lord Delaware 49 

VII Lord Delaware's Government — Sir Thomas Dale — 
Capture of Pocahontas — Her Marriage and Death 
— Death of Powhatan — Land Assigned to Colon- 
ists 57 

VIII Dale Returns to England — Argall's Rule — First Colo- 
nial Assembly — New Charter — Cargo of Maidens 
Arrive — Negroes Imported — Slavery — Massacre 

of 1G22 '. 64 

IX Sir John Harvey — Religious Intolerance- — Lord Balti- 
more — William Claiborne — Sir William Berkelev 

— Massacre of 1044 '. 70 

X The Civil War in England — Loyalty of Virginia- — 

Yields to Cromwell — The Restoration 77 

XI Bacon's RebelHon 83 

XII Bacon's Rebellion, Continued — Death of Charles II — 

King James II — William and Mary 88 

XIII Growth of the Colony — William and Mary College — 
Queen Anne — Governor Spotswood — Colonel 

B^^rd — The Htiguenots — The Scotch-Irish 94 

XIV The Character of the Population — Employments and 

Condition of the People in Colonial' Times . . . . 103 
XV The Employments and Condition of the People, Con- 
tinued Ill 

[7 1 



8 



Table of Contents 



XVI George "Washington — His Boyhood — Surveyor for 
Lord Fairfax — Mission to the French — In Com- 
mand of the Virginia Troops — Aide to General 
Braddock — Patrick Henry — The Parsons' Case 

—The Stamp Act 123 

XVII Resistance to Parliamentary Taxation — Non-Impor- 
tation Resolutions — The First Congress — George 

Mason — Andrew Lewis 131 

XVIII Story of Lewis, Continued — The Virginia Convention 
— Removal of the Powder — Mustering of the 
Minutemen — Payment for the Powder — Lord 
North's Peace Measures 138 

XIX Committee Appointed — Virginia Resohitions- — Decla- 
ration of Independence — Disestablishment of 
the Church — Primogeniture — George Rogers 

Clarke 146 

XX Progress of the War — Arnold's Invasion — Lord Corn- 
wallis — Tarleton's Raids — Alliance with France 
— Yorktown 152 

XXI Virginia at the Close of the Revolution 159 

XXII The Futvire Government — The Convention of 1787 — 
— The Opposition in Virginia — The Government 
Established — Thomas Jefferson- — His Adminis- 
tration — Lewis and Clarke's Explorations — 
Aaron Burr — Judge Marshall 165 

XXIII Death of Washington and Henry — Virginia Presidents 

— Negro Insurrections — Slavery and the Slave 
Trade 173 

XXIV President Lincoln — Bad Faith as to Sumter — Prepa- 

rations for Invasion — The South Forced to De- 
fend Itself 184 

XXV Some Events of the War in Virginia 192 

XXVI The Cruel Conduct of the War — Medicines Contra- 
brand — Destruction of Private Property- — Hun- 
ter's Vandalism — Dahlgren's Raid- — Responsi- 
bilitv for the Suffering of Prisoners — Treatment 

of President Davis 212 

XXVII Condition of Virginia — Enfranchisement of the Ne- 
groes — Division of the State — Virginia's Pro- 
gress — Confederate Monuments 219 

XXVIII The Virginians — The First Settlers — Class Distinc- 
tions — What Virginians have accomplished. . . . 224 
A List of those who have filled the Executive Office from 160G to 

1904 230 

Virginia Bill of Rights 235 

Declaration of Independence 238 




AwraicU 111 irank J/c Ucs i JSnt.^ JT. 



YOUNCx PEOPLE'S HISTORY 



OF 



Virginia and Virginians 



CHAPTER I 

COLUMBUS EFFECT OF HIS DISCOVERIES JOHN CABOT QUEEN ELIZA- 
BETH SIR WALTER RALEIGH AND SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT THEIR 

VOYAGES. 







^^l 






ii^s^^^iri^ " Columbus. — Before the time of 
'^^^^^S Columbus the contments of North 

America and South America were 
entirely unknown to the people of the Old World, who sup- 
posed that Europe, Asia and Africa, and the islands lying near 
their coasts, were the whole earth. In 1492 Columbus, by 
sailing westward across the Atlantic Ocean, discovered first 
the Bahamas, and subsequently the West India Islands, and 
on his third voyage the South American continent. 

[9] 



Young People's History 



EfEect of His Discoveries. — These discoveries by Columbus 
quickened the spirit of adventure among the maritime 
nations of Europe, each desiring to share in the wealth, as 
well as the glory, to be had in those new-found lands. 

The Spaniards and Portuguese. — Italy furnished some 
of the best sailors, but the most active and enterprising 
nations were the Spaniards and Portuguese, between whom 
the Pope, the head of the Roman Catholic church, assumed to 
divide the New World. The former made inany voyages 
along the southern coast of North America and conquered 
Mexico and Peru, but other nations were by no means idle 
and paid little heed to the Pope's orders. 

The English. — In 1497 Jo^i^ Cabot, a native of Italy, but 
at that time a merchant of Bristol, in England, and his son, 
Sebastian, under a patent from King Henry VII, made the 
first voyage attempted by the 
English and discovered the North 
American continent off the sterile 
coast of Labrador. Sailing for 
' some distance along its shores, 
he took possession of the country 
>^^' in the name of the King of Eng- 
land. This was fourteen months 
. before Columbus ever saw the 
continent of America, and two 
years before the ship of Amerigo 
Vespucci, from whom it took its 
COLUMBUS name, left a European port. 

England's Claim. — English vessels would sometimes visit 
the fisheries which, within seven years after the discovery 
by Cabot, had been established on the coast of Nova Scotia 
and Newfoundland by the hardy mariners of Brittany and 
Normandy in France, but no effort was made to settle the 
country for nearly a hundred years; nevertheless, the dis- 




OF Virginia and Virginians 




covery by Cabot gave England a claim to a large portion of 
the North American continent, which she afterward success- 
fully asserted. 

Drake's Voyage Around the World. — 
In 1579 Sir Francis Drake, an English- 
inan, passed through the straits of Magel- 
lan, explored the Pacific coast and re- 
turned to Europe by way of the Cape of 
Good Hope. This was the second voyage 
around the world, the first having been 
made in 1520 by Magellan, a Portuguese 

. • ,1 • r o • SIR tKANClj DRAKE 

navigator m the service of Spam. 

Queen Elizabeth. — In the month of January, 1558, more 
than sixty years after the first voyage of Cabot, the Princess 
Elizabeth, daughter of King Henr}^ VIII, was crowned Queen 
of England. She was then twenty-five years of age, and 
her coronation was the occasion of great 
rejoicing among the English people, who 
hoped for a new era of peace and pros- 
perity at home under her reign. In this 
they were not disappointed. 

Her Character and Government. — The 
queen's early years had been passed in 
virtual captivity, and her youth clouded 
with many sorrows, but she showed a 
kind and forgiving spirit toward those 
from whom she had received much unkindness, and she 
managed the business of her government with equal pru- 
dence and wisdom. She encouraged agriculture, trade and 
navigation, and so increased her navy that she has been 
called "The Queen of the Northern Seas." Her wise gov- 
ernment was respected at home and abroad, and about her 
throne were gathered a group of the most remarkable men 
who figure on the pages of England's history. 
Her Interest in Colonization. — Her reign is of peculiar 




QUEEN ELIZABETH 



12 YojNG People's History 

interest to the student of Virginia history, because she it was 
who gave the first impetus and the greatest encouragement to 
those adventurous spirits who early turned the tide of emi- 
gration toward this State, which is named in honor of the 
"Virgin Queen." Up to the date of EHzabeth's accession 
England had done but little in the way of discovery and 
had made no progress in the establishment of colonies. 
Spain and France had far surpassed her in these directions. 
Onlv a mischance prevented the establishment of a Spanish 
colony on James River, in which event the whole region 
would have owed allegiance to Spain instead of England, 
and our history to-day might be very different.* 

Sir Walter Raleigh. — Among all the gallant band of knights 
and gentlemen who thronged the court of Elizabeth there 
was not one more attractive than Walter 
Raleigh. Handsome in person, his ready 
wit and his brave and resolute character 
soon won him the especial favor of the 
queen, who conferred upon him the honor 
of knighthood, and hence he is known in 
history as Sir Walter Raleigh. 

His Introduction to the Queen. — There 
is a very pretty story told of his first 
introduction to Elizabeth, which illus- 
siR WALTER RALEIGH ^j-^^eg \^{^ clevcmess and the grace of his 
manners. At that time the streets of London were not what 
thev are now, and it happened that one day as the queen 
was going with a gay company of knights and ladies to take 
her pleasure on the water, she came to a muddy place which 
she could not pass without soiling her shoes. While she 
was hesitating what to do a young gentleman sprang for- 
ward and spread his cloak upon the ground, and the queen 

* Lucas DeAyllon, in 1526, began the settlement of San Miguel, it is said, on the 
very spot on which Jamestown was built. The death of DeAyllon, the rivalry and 
strife between his successors, and sickness so discouraged the colonists that the 
settlement was abandoned. 




OF Virginia and Virginians 13 

passed over it dry shod. Of course, she enquired the name 
of the gallant young cavalier, and learned it was Walter 
Raleigh. We are told that he "spoiled a handsome cloak 
and gained many suits" at one and the same time, for from 
that day the queen showered favors upon him and would 
have made him one of her attendants. 

First Expedition Under Gilbert. — But Raleigh's brave 
and adventurous spirit was not satisfied with the life of ease 
and idleness at court. His attention and interest had long 
been directed toward the western world, where, since Colum- 
bus's first voyage, in 1492, many new discoveries and set- 
tlements had been made. Together with his stepbrother, 
Sir Humphrey Gilbert, he besought the queen to give him 
the means to fit out an expedition which might claim for 
England a share in the rich treasures to be found beyond 
the seas. She readily complied with his wishes and endorsed 
his plans, and in 1583 a fleet, imder the command of Gilbert, 
set sail for the shores of America. Elizabeth sent him a 
jeweled anchor and a message of encouragement. He suc- 
ceeded in reaching the island of Newfoundland, but his ships 
were soon afterward scattered by a storm, compelling his 
return. His own vessel went down on the homeward voyage 
while he was endeavoring to cheer and encourage his people, 
reminding them that "we are as near heaven at sea as on 
land," and bidding them "be of good cheer." 

Further Efforts. — Sir Walter was much grieved when 
he learned of the disaster, but he was^not discouraged, and 
immediately set about fitting out fresh ships for another 
effort. Indeed, most of his life was devoted to this object, 
and all of his private fortune was spent in attempts to estab- 
lish English colonies in America. So many were his voyages, 
so tireless his efforts, and so unswerving his courage and 
devotion to this end, that he was called the "Shepherd of 
the Ocean." 

Voyage of Amidas and Barlow. — It was in the summer 



14 Young People's History 

of 1584 that two vessels, sent by him under the command 
of Captains Amidas and Barlow, reached the coast of what 
is now North Carolina. They were charmed with the beauty 
of the country, its magnificent forests, the luxuriance of its 
vegetation, and the abundance of its game. The natives, 
who called their country Wingandacoa, or "good land," 
treated them with kindness, and they returned to London 
filled with enthusiasm, and gave glowing accounts of the 
land and of its inhabitants. It was then that the name 
Virginia, or "Virgin Land," was bestowed upon the region 
they had visited, and for a long time this was the only desig- 
nation by which America was known. 

Lane's Colony. — In 1585, the year after the expedition 
under Amidas and Barlow, Raleigh sent out another, with a 
view of making a permanent settlement under the govern- 
orship of Ralph Lane, who was afterward knighted by 
Queen Elizabeth. Sir Richard Grenville, a brave sea captain, 
was placed in charge of the fleet, and landed the colony on 
Roanoke Island, in Albemarle Sound, on the North Carolina 
coast. Grenville did not remain long, but, leaving the settle- 
ment in the charge of Lane, he returned to England. There 
were no women with the party, and the men composing it 
set diligently to work to explore the mainland, and like many 
who came after them, wasted much time in a vain search for 
gold. It was generally believed that the western continent 
was very narrow, and they anxiously sought a way across 
it, in order to open up a new route to China and the East. 

Search for the South Sea. — The Indians soon grew tired 
of their white visitors, and, being anxious to be rid of them, 
told Lane that the Roanoke River rose in the west so close 
to the seacoast that its head-waters were salt. Believing 
the story, he set out with most of his men to follow the stream 
to its source. Long before reaching it his provisions became 
exhausted, and only the courage of their leader stimulated 
his men to persevere. They had taken two dogs with them, 



OF Virginia and Virginians 



15 



and finally were reduced to eating these, boiling the flesh 
with sassafras leaves to season it. This was the last food 
obtainable, and when it was exhausted they were forced to 




turn their faces homeward. 
They reached Roanoke Island 
just in time to prevent the 
Indians from murdering the rest 
of their comrades. 

Sir Francis Drake — Abandonment of the Colony. — About 

this time Sir Francis Drake, one of the most daring seamen 
of his day, who had returned from his voyage around the 
world only a few years before, came over from the West 
Indies to see how the colonv fared. He found the colonists 



1 6 Young People's History 

much disheartened, and furnished them with provisions 
and one or more ships to enable them to extend their dis- 
coveries, or, if necessarv, to return to England. While he 
was still w^ith them a violent storm arose, wrecked some of 
his ships and carried others out to sea. When the storm 
was over Drake devised plans for continuing jthe colony 
and for further discoveries; but the colonists, worn out and 
discouraged by their hardships, decided not to let escape 
what might be a last opportunity of returning to England; 
and, embarking in one of Drake's vessels, sailed for home 
with him. A few days after their departure a ship sent by 
Raleigh, laden with all the stores needed, arrived, but finding 
the settlement deserted, returned to England. About a 
fortnight later Sir Richard Grenville arrived with three well 
furnished ships, and, unwilling to lose possession, left fifteen 
men on the island to guard the rights of England. 

Tobacco. — Sir Ralph Lane and his comrades were the first 
to introduce tobacco into England. They learned to smoke 
it from the Indians ; and it is said soine of the first pipes tised 
in England were made of walnut shells, with straws for stems. 

Anecdote of Raleigh. — Sir Walter Raleigh adopted the 
practice, and many men and women of fashion followed his 
example. It is said that his servant, coming suddenly into 
the room where he was smoking one day, thought that he 
was on fire, and emptied a pitcher of ale over his head in an 
effort to extinguish the flames. 

Second Settlement at Roanoke. — In 15S7 Raleigh made 
another attempt to found a permanent settlement on Roanoke 
Island. This time he sent women and children as well as 
men, and they reached their destination in safety. They 
found the tenements deserted, the fort in ruins, the wild 
deer feeding on the rank vegetation of the gardens, while 
human bones scattered in the fields told that the men left 
by Grenville had fallen by the arrows and tomahawks of 
the Indians. 



OF Virginia and Virginians 17 

Virginia Dare. — The colony was in charge of John White, 
and soon after it landed a female child was born, to whom 
was given the name of Virginia Dare. She was the first 
child of English parents born in America, and was a grand- 
daughter of Governor White. 

Disappearance of the Colony. — Soon after her birth her 
grandfather went to England for supplies for his people, 
but when he arrived there he found the country threatened 
by a Spanish invasion. Ships sent by Raleigh with .supplies 
were captured or driven back, and when White returned, 
after an absence of three years, no trace of the colony could 
be found, except the word croatan carved on a tree. He 
had left behind him eighty-nine men, seventeen women and 
eleven children, and not one of them was ever seen again. 
Their fate continues a mystery to this day. It was said 
that some of them afterward found shelter among the Indians 
on the coast of North Carolina. This was never verified, 
and their story remains one of the saddest of the many trage- 
dies of our history. 

QUESTIONS 

1. What countries are called the Old World? 

2. How was the New World discovered? 

3. What was the effect of the discovery? 

4. What nations were most active? 

5. Tell of John Cabot and his discoveries. 

6. Who established fisheries? When? 

7. What country claimed a large portion of North America? Why? 

8. Who was Queen Elizabeth? 

9. Tell of her character and government. 

10. What was she called? 

11. Why was Virginia so named? 

12. What nations had made most progress in establishing colonies? 

13. Who was Sir Walter Raleigh? 

14. Tell of his first meeting with the queen. 

15. Who was Sir Humphrey Gilbert? 

16. Tell of his voyage and fate. 

17. How did this affect Raleigh? 

18. Whom did he send out, and when? 

19. Where did they go, and what report did they make? 

20. When and by whom was a colony landed on Roanoke Island? 

21. Who was in charge of the settlenient? 



8 Young People's History 

22. What did thev set out to search for? 

23. Tell of the result. 

24. Who paid a visit to the colony, and what was the consequence? 

25. Who introduced tobacco into England? 

26. What anecdote is told of Raleigh? 

27. When did Raleigh make another effort at settlement, and with 
,-hat result? 



OF Virginia and Virginians 19 



CHAPTER II 

THE FATE OF RALEIGH THE VIRGINIA COMPANY THE FIRST CHARTER 

EXPEDITION UNDER NEWPORT SETTLEMENT AT JAMESTOWN CAPT. 

JOHN SMITH. 

Colonization Abandoned. — After the sad disappearance 
cf little Virginia Dare and her kinsfolk and friends, many 
years passed before another attempt was made to settle 
Virginia. Sir Walter Raleigh having fruitlessly expended 
;/^4o,ooo, a large sum in those days, was too poor to fit out 
any more ships, and Queen Elizabeth was too busy with a 
war with Spain, then the richest and most powerful country 
in the world, to pay any attention to the matter. 

Fate of Raleigh.— Though Sir Walter fought with great 
bravery and distinction in this war, he was afterward so 
unfortunate as to incur the displeasure of the queen and her 
successor, King James, and was thrown into prison, where he 
remained twelve 3^ears before he was released. The rest of 
his life is a sad record of disappointments and misfortunes 
which fell so heavily upon him that he never again was 
able to accomplish anything in the way of colonizing 
Virginia, although he made more than one effort to learn 
something of the fate of his Roanoke settlers. But he never 
lost faith in the future of the colony, and while a prisoner in 
the Tower said to Gosnold, "/ shall yet live to see Virginia a 
great nation." In 1618 King James I, to please the King 
of Spain, ordered him to be beheaded, and he was executed 
in the Tower. When he ascended the scaffold he felt the 
edge of the axe, and said: "This is a sharp medicine, but it 
is a sure cure for all diseases." 

Death of Elizabeth. — In 1603 Queen Elizabeth died, and 
her cousin, James VI, of Scotland, became King James I, 
of England. 



20 Young People's History 

The Virginia Company — While Raleigh was a prisoner 
in the Tower of London, some of the men who had been 
associated with him in his former enterprises organized them- 
selves into a Virginia Company. Among those especially 
interested in the project were Bartholomew Gosnold, a brave 
sea captain who had formerly made an unsuccessful attempt 
to colonize what is now New England. Associated with 
him were Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George Somers, Captain 
John Smith, an English soldier, and several other well known 
gentlemen. 

The First Charter. — King James gave the enterprise his 
endorsement and drew up a charter for the government of 
the colony. This was the first charter granted in America, 
and by its terms two colonies were to be established in Vir- 
ginia, a northern and a southern. The boundaries of the 
southern colony were to extend four hundred miles along the 
coast, half that distance north of the mouth of James River, 
and the same distance south, and to extend inland from sea 
to sea. The chief authority in the government of the colony 
was the King of England. The king himself appointed a 
council of thirteen in London who were to control and direct 
its affairs. There was also to be a Virginia council to act 
under the London Company. 

Its Provisions. — The terms of the charter were in the main 
wise. The right of trial by jury was guaranteed the colonies, 
and efforts were to be made to christianize the Indians; 
but what you should chiefly note is the evident determination 
of the king to control and dictate the policy of the colony 
in all respects. His endorsement and approval limited its 
every action. 

Character of King James I. — James was neither a wise 
nor a liberal monarch, and he was prepared to enforce his 
authority on his subjects at home and abroad with all the 
strength of his narrow and bigoted nature. It was this same 
course which, persevered in by his successors, at last brought 



OF Virginia and Virginians 21 

about the war of the Revolution. The Virginians were 
loyal and devoted to the crown of England until its oppres- 
sions and tyrannies became unbearable, and finally drove 
them to revolt. 

The First Colonists. — On the 19th of December, 1606, 
three vessels, the Susan Constant, the God Speed, and the 
Discovery, under the control of the Virginia Company, and 
commanded by Captain Christopher Newport, set sail for 
America. The first of the three bore the little company 
which was to found the earliest permanent English settle- 
ment in the territory now known as the United States. The 
ships were very small, the largest being only one hundred 
tons burden and the smallest scarcely twenty. It was six 
weeks, owing to storms and contrary winds, ere they lost 
sight of the coast of England, and it was nearly four months 
before they landed in America. 

A Long Voyage. — The sailors of that day were very igno- 
rant and timid, and not many were brave enough to put 
to sea and sail directly across the Atlantic by a new and 
unknown route. They usually beat their way southward 
to the Canary Islands and thence to the West Indies, thus 
making their journey doubly long. April had come before 
they sighted the longed-for shores and refreshed their weary 
eyes with the verdure and beauty of a Virginia landscape in 
the springtime. 

Driven Into the Chesapeake.— They had at first intended 
to settle upon that ill-fated Roanoke Island where their 
predecessors had perished, but a sudden storm arose and 
their frail vessels, helpless before it, were driven into Chesa- 
peake Bay; and to the headlands at its entrance they gave 
the names of the king's sons, calling them Cape Charles and 
Cape Henry. They discovered the mouth of a large river, 
which they named in honor of King James, and the headland 
at its mouth thev called Point Comfort, because it afforded 



22 Young People's History 

a safe anchorage. Up this river they sailed in search of a 
landing. 

Landing at Jamestown. — On the 13th of May, 1607, they 
landed on a peninsula, about forty miles up the river. It 
is said they were influenced in their choice of this spot by 
the fact that the water was six fathoms deep and they could 
fasten their vessels to the trees on shore; but, Vvdiatever the 
reason may have been, the selection was most unfortunate, 
for the spot though beautiful with forest trees, wild grape- 
vines and blossoming shrubs and flowers, was low and un- 
healthy, and much of their subsequent suffering resulted 
from this cause. 

The First Church. — Their first act on landing was to 
arrange for a place of worship. They stretched a sail from the 
boughs of two adjacent trees and made a sort of pulpit under 
it. Here they had religious services morning and evening. 
They felled trees and built themselves houses, and having 
named their settlement Jamestown, set to work to make 
themselves as comfortable as circumstances would permit. 

Their Dangers. — There were two especial dangers which 
threatened the safety and prosperity of the colonists. One 
was the hostility of the Indians and the other was their own 
unfitness for the situation in which they found themselves. 

Character of the Colonists.— In their ranks were men 
from every walk in life. There were knights and gentlemen, 
who thought that labor of any kind was a disgrace, and there 
were industrious craftsmen who desired to do their duty if 
they were properly directed. Some had come in search of 
treasure, some to convert the Indians, and some to conquer 
new territory for the king ; but all were unskilled in the work 
necessary to be done, and unprepared for the hardships to 
be endured. Industry, self-control, and consideration for 
the rights of others are virtues we should all strive to acquire 
and practice. These were lessons oitr colonists had yet to 




[23] 



24 Young People's History 

learn. But their greatest need was a competent leader, a 
man whom they could trust and respect. After much suf- 
fering they found him in Captain John Smith. 

Captain John Smith. — Smith's career, like that of marty 
another English soldier of that day, had been full of adventure. 
He was bom in Lincolnshire, England, in 1580, was the son 
of a wealthy gentleman, and had received a good education. 
Being left an orphan at the age of fifteen, he was apprenticed 
to a merchant by his guardian, but becoming dissatisfied 
he ran away, and for two years his life was a series of romantic 
adventures in Europe, Asia and Africa, where he fought under 
more than one flag and experienced both good and evil for- 
tune. Among others to whom he offered his sword was 
Sigismund, Duke of Transylvania, then engaged in a fierce 
conflict with the Turks. After the fashion of the day, Smith 
dared his adversaries to single combat, and slew three Turkish 
soldiers who successively came out to break a lance with 
him. For this feat of valor he was knighted by Sigismund, 
who bestowed on him a crest bearing three Turks' heads. 

His Imprisonment and Escape. — But his fortunes changed, 
and he was finally taken prisoner by his enemies, who put 
an iron collar about his neck and kept him at hard labor 
for many months. With characteristic daring he at length 
made his escape, and after many hardships reached England, 
where the wonders and riches of the New World were the 
all-absorbing topic of the day. 

Joins the Virginia Company. — Smith entered with enthu- 
siasm into the project of establishing settlements in Virginia, 
and, as we have seen, was among the first colonists to sail 
thither. He was now twenty-five years old, a soldier of 
fortune, eager for new fields, of enterprise and glory. The 
Virginia Company promised both, and he promptly enrolled 
himself among its members. 

His Character. — But John Smith was not merely a soldier 



OF Virginia and Virginians 25 

and a .fighter. He was also a writer of force and power, 
and a born leader of men. With his undaunted courage he 
combined an earnest purpose and a ready wit, wdiich stood 
him in good stead in many personal dangers. The best 
faculjties of his mind and heart were to be devoted to the 
service of his comrades, among whom he soon took promi- 
nence as a leader. He had received no official appointment 
as such. Indeed, the colonists themselves did not know 
who would be their governor until after their voyage was 
ended. 

The Virginia Council. — The names of the Virginia Council 
were, by the king's orders, sealed up in a box, which was 
not to be opened until their destination was reached. The 
box was opened on April 26th, and the names were found 
to be those of Captains Gosnold and Newport, Wingfield, 
Smith, Ratcliffe, Martin and Kendall. 

Wingfield Made President. — These seven were to elect 
one of their number an atmual president, and on May 13th 
Wingfield was chosen to fill that office. A most unwise 
selection it proved to be. Wingfield was utterly unfit for 
the position to which he was called. He was indolent, selfish 
and cowardly, and was envious of Smith, whose abilitv he 
could not fail to recognize. 

Smith's Energy. — The latter was not a man to sit idly 
by when there was so much to be done, and before long took 
the lead as the master spirit of the enterprise. But for his 
courage and devotion the little band might have gone the 
way of that other on Roanoke Island, whose fate remains a 
mystery for all time. 

QUESTIONS 

1. Why did not Raleigh send out more colonists? 

2. What was his fate? 

3. Who succeeded Elizabeth? 

4. Name some of the members of the Virginia Company. 

5. Who drew up its charter, and what were its terms? 

6. What was the character of King James? 



26 Young People's History 

7. How many vessels were sent, and under whose command? 

8. When? 

9. By what route did they sail? 

10. When did they come in sight of Virginia? 

11. Where and why? 

12. Where and when did they land? 

13. What was their first care? 

14. What special dangers threatened them? 

15. Of what classes were the colonists comcosed? 
IG. What was their greatest need? 

17. Tell about Captain John Smith. 

IS. What was his character? 

19. Who composed the first Council? 

20. Who was chosen president, and what were his qualifications? 

21. What is said of Smith? 



OF Virginia and Virginians 



27 



CHAPTER III 




THE INDIANS 

The Indians. — The settlers at Jamestown, as did those 
at Roanoke and elsewhere in the New World, found the 

country- 
inhabit- 
ed by a 
race very 
/ ^^ . %.\M ^h& w-<!\ different 

from any 
\N?^? \ V # *«*" of the 

I^DIAN WEAPONS pcople of 

the Old World. This race Colum- 
bus had called Indians, because he supposed 
the land he had discovered was a part of the 
East Indies, and by this name they have 
ever since been known. 
The Origin of the Indians. — How they got 
here, or when, or whence they came, nobody 
knows; their origin is, and probably forever 
will be, unknown, for they had no written his- 
tory, and one of their traditions taught that 
they had sprung from the earth. Some think 
the}^ reached America from Eastern Asia, cross- 
ing Bering Strait, where the distance between the conti- 
nents is least ; but, if so, it must have been many centuries 
before the coming of the white men; and the Indian 
mounds found in many parts of the country, out of which 
have been dug pottery, bricks, and many articles of 
household use unknown to the Indians, show that a race 
far more advanced in the arts of civilized life had occupied 
this country before them. 



f 




28 Young People's History 

The Virginia Indians. — The Indians found in Virginia 
by the Lnghsh belonged to the Algonquin family, one of 
the three great families which 
occupied the vast country south 
of the Great Lakes and east 
of the Mississippi River. The 
other families were the Iro- 
quois, near the Great Lakes, 
whom the English called the 
INDIAN MOUND IN WEST VIRGINIA Five Nations (and afterward, 
when joined by the Tuscaroras from North Carolina, the Six 
Nations), and the Mobilians or Maskokis, near the Gulf of 
Mexico and on the lower Mississippi. The Indians were 
scattered over the country at wide intervals and were not 
very numerous. It is now thought that the number east 
of the Mississippi did not exceed 200,000. 

Their Subdivisions. — These families were composed of 
clans, every member of which was supposed to be the 
descendant of a common ancestress, for the Indians traced 
descent from the mother, and not from the father, as we do. 
These clans formed tribes, over which was a ruler called 
"Sachem," chief or king, who owed his rank sometimes to 
his birth, sometimes to his superior cunning and bravery, 
and who was their leader in war and presided over their 
councils. Each clan was known by its badge or "totem," 
usually the picture of some animal, as a bear, wolf, beaver, 
or eagle. They used these pictures as a seal to their agree- 
ments, and sometimes carved them on their tombstones. 
The spirit of the animal was thought to watch over and 
protect them. 

Their Appearance and Dress. — While the Indian families 
differed in some respects from each other they were so much 
alike that they are believed to have sprung from the same 
stock. They were of a reddish copper color, tall, straight, 
and well formed, with straight, coarse, black hair, some- 



OF Virginia and Virginians 



29 



what like a horse's mane, high cheek bones, prominent noses, 
and small, deep-set, black eyes. The women wore their 
hair long and hanging down over their shoulders, but the 
hair of the men was cut very close on one side and allowed 
to grow long on the other, and brought up in a single lock 
on the top of the head, called the "scalp lock." This was a 
token of defiance or dare to their enemies, affording a good 
hand-hold in a hand-to-hand fight, and enabling them to 
tear off the scalp as a trop^v of victory when the foe was 
slam In su.TrTicr ')Olli nt nlnmst naked, and in 




INDIAN VILLAGE 

winter clothed themselves in the skins of the large animals 
killed in hunting. On great occasions the men wore head- 
dresses of feathers, the claws and sometimes the heads of 
wild beasts, and strings of shells as ornaments. ' The women 
wore dyed feathers and shells strung as beads. They made 
of buckskin soft shoes, called "moccasins," and leggins of 
the same material, which they sometimes ornamented with 
beads or shells. 

How They Lived. — The Indians lived in huts which they 
called "wigwams." These were made of poles driven into 
the ground in a circle, drawn together at the top and fastened 
with withes or strips of bark, which they covered very skill- 



3° 



Young People's History 



fully with bark or skins. The Iroquois and some of the 
Virginia Indians built long houses. In the middle of the 
wigwam they dug a hole for a fire, the smoke escaping through 
an opening in the top. Their food consisted of the animals 
killed in hunting; fish from the rivers and streams, which 
they took with hooks made of bone, or speared with long 
spears, or caught in weirs or traps ; and the wild fruits and nuts 
which grew in the woods. They raised in small quantities 
on lands cleared by killing the trees Indian corn, or maize, 
pumpkins, beans and tobacco. The trees were killed by belt- 
ing them or by building fires around them and burning them 
until they were deadened, or by burning .them down. The 

soil was worked ^.-- \ with sharp' sticks or shells or 

rude hoes made of sharpened 
stones fastened to a stick. 
They cooked their meat by 
broiling it on the fire, or 
boiling it in earthen vessels, 
or in wooden vessels in which 
the water was heated by 
dropping in hot stones. 
Bread was made from corn 
pounded in wooden mortars 
and baked in hot ashes. 
Their canoes were made 
from logs hollowed out by 
burning and scraping. They 
had no domestic animals, 
not even the dog. The labor 
was all performed by the women, or squaws, who built the 
wigwams, cultivated the crops, gathered the wood, prepared 
the food, dressed the skins and converted them into garments, 
and when they moved, as they often did, carried on their 
shoulders or in their hands all the household goods, and also 
the babies, or pappooses, who were too small to walk. The 




INDIAN MOTHER AND PAPPOOSE 



OF Virginia and Virginians 



31 



Indian brave or warrior thought it beneath his dignity to do 
anything except prepare his weapons for hunting or for war, 
and spent his time hunting in the forest or on the warpath, 
fighting and scalping his enemies. They painted or tattooed 
themselves with clay of different colors, and from the color 
of the paint it was known whether they meant peace or war. 

Their Characteristics. — Living almost exclusively in the 
open air, they were active, strong, swift, and able to endure 
prolonged hunger and fatigue. Indian runners sometimes 
travelled seventy-five miles a day. They were sometimes 
kind and true to their friends, but were habitually deceitful, 
treacherous and cruel toward their enemies, sometimes 
remembering a favor, but never forgetting an injury. They 
were trained to self-control, and seldom showed any emotion, 
either of pleasure or pain, but endured the latter without 
flinching. They used few words, but nothing escaped their 
notice, and their eyes and 
ears were so trained that 
they could follow the trail 
of a deer or of an enemy 
through the pathless for- 
ests by the turning of the 
dry leaves or the twisting 
of a bough, distinguish the 
footstep of man or beast, 
friend or foe, and could also 
imitate the calls of birds 
and animals so as to bring 
them within range of their 
bows. 

Their Weapons. — They 
were armed with clubs, 
spears and tomahawks, which they used in war, and bows and 
arrows, used chiefly in hunting. Their arrows had sharp- 
pointed heads of flint-stone, or sometimes of bone; but it 




INDIAN BOY LEARNING TO SHOOT 



32 Young People's History 

was not long after the Europeans came before the greed of 
the traders, notwithstanding the enactment of laws prohibit- 
ing the sale of firearms to the natives, supplied them with 
guns, which they learned to use with great skill. Their 
mode of warfare was to steal secretly through the woods, one 
behind the other, in what is yet called Indian file, and sur- 
prise the villages and camps of their enemy by night, killing 
men, women and children without mercy; or to lay in wait 
and surprise their enemies on the march. 

Their Education. — The boys and girls were taught to 
weave mats, string shells, dress skins, make bows and arrows. 
The boys were taught to use the bow, to spear fish, to bear 
hunger and fatigue, to endure pain without a murmur, and 
to do such things as required skill and courage. One of their 
reputed games was to stand up in a row, put live coals under 
their naked arms and press them close to their bodies. The 
one that could stand the pain the longest was made their leader. 

Their Religion. — The Indians beheved in the existence 
of a great and good Spirit, which they called "Manitou," 
but they believed also in a number of evil spirits, which 
they tried not to offend, because they feared the evil spirits 
would do them some injury. The Indian also believed that 
if he had been a brave warrior and taken many scalps, his 
spirit would go to the happy hunting-grounds, while the spirit 
of the coward would be doomed to endless drudgery and 
flogging. When he died his weapons were buried with him 
for use in the other world. After 1619 many efforts were 
made to christianize and civilize them, but with little success. 

Their Fate. — The Indians have now almost entirely dis- 
appeared from the country east of the Mississippi, many of 
them having been removed to the west to what are called 
Indian reservations. 

The Powhatan Confederacy. — The tribes over which 
Powhatan ruled were scattered over a territory embracing 



OF Virginia and Virginians 33 

about 8,000 square miles, and could bring into the field about 
2,500 warriors. The total population of the Powhatan con- 
federacy did not, perhaps, exceed 10,000, including men, 
women and children. Of these but a remnant of the 
powerful Pamunkeys, once the foes, but afterward the allies 
of the English, now remains, and none of these are full- 
blooded Indians. They number about one hundred, and 
live at Indiantown, the Indian reservation on the Pamunkey, 
about twenty miles east of Richmond, opposite the White 
House. Their government is democratic, the authority 
being vested in an elective chief and a council of four members, 
who punish offences and settle disputes among them. Their 
chief visits the capital every fall to bring to the governor of 
Virginia their yearly tribute of fish and game, which from 
colonial times has been paid by the tribe in acknowledgment 
of its subordination to the authority of the State. They 
pay no taxes to the State, and do not enjoy the right of 
suffrage. 

The Wrongs of the Indian. — A great deal of sentimental 
talk has been expended about the "noble red man" and his 
wrongs at our hands by those who 
have obtained their ideas of Indian 
character from Cooper's novels. But 
those most familiar with the North 
American Indian give him credit for 
very few of the virtues of hufnanity. 
Smith and the Virginia colonists did 
everything they could to win the good- 
will and friendship of the natives. 
They were repaid by treachery and tecumseh 

murder, and several massacres of the trusting colonists were 
the outcome of all of the friendly efforts our ancestors made. 

Pocahontas and Tecumseh. — Pocahontas, alone, stands out 

upon history as a pure and generous woman, the equal of any 

historical character of her time. Amongst the chiefs of his 
3 




34 Young People's History 

race, Tecumseh is a noble example of high character and 
great ability. When he reached the field of battle and found 
his Indians, the allies of the British, murdering and scalp- 
ing American prisoners, men, women and children, as the 
Enghsh officers in command permitted or ordered them to 
do, with his own hand Tecumseh slew the perpetrators and 
stopped their brutality. 

QUESTIONS 

1. Who inhabited Virginia at the time of the first settlement, and 
why were they so called? 

2. Tell what you know of their origin. 

3. What three families of Indians dwelt between the Great Lakes, 
the Atlantic coast, the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi River? 

4. To which of these did the Virginia Indians belong? 

5. How were these families divided? 

6. Describe the appearance and dress of the Indians. 

7. Tell of their houses; of their agriculture. 

8. Mention some of their characteristics. 

9. Tell of their weapons and mode of warfare. 

10. Of their education. 

11. Of their religion. 

12. Of their fate. 

1.3. What can you tell of the Powhatan Confederacy? 

14. What is said of the wrongs of the Indian? 

15. What is said of Pocahontas and Tecmnseh? 



OF Virginia and Virginians 35 

SYNOPSIS FOR REVIEW 



14:92—1607 



Chapter I — Discovery bv Columbus. 

Its Effect. 

Spanish and Portugese voyages. 

John Cabot. 

Enghsh Claim. 

First Voyage Around the World. 

Second Voyage Around the World. 

Queen Elizabeth. 

Sir Walter Raleigh. 

Sir Humphrey Gilbert. 

Raleigh's First Expedition. 

Raleigh's First Colony. 

Introduction of Tobacco. 

Raleigh's Second Colony. 

Virginia Dare. 
Chapter II — Fate of Raleigh. 

James I. 

The Virginia Company. 

The First Charter. 

The First Colonists. 

The Voyage. 

The Settlement. 

Character of the Colonists. 

Captain John Smith — His adventures; his character; 
his efforts. 

The Council — Its members; its president. 
Indians: 
Chapter III — Their Origin. 

The Virginia Indians. 

Their Subdivisions — Clans, tribes. 

Their Appearance and Dress. 

Their DwelHngs. 

Their Im.plements. 

The Women. 

The Warriors. 

Their Traits. 

Weapons. 

Education. 

Rehgion. 

Fate. 

Powhatan's Confederacy. 

The Wrongs of the Indiaa 

Pocahontas. 

Tecumseh. 

Their Character. 



3$ Young People's History 



CHAPTER IV 

THE COLONY HOSTILITY OF THE INDIANS SICKNESS THE GOLD FEVER 

smith's EXPLORATIONS HIS CAPTURE AND RESCUE BY POCAHONTAS. 

Number of Colonists. — About one hundred men composed 
the Jamestown colony. We are told that when the expedi- 
tion sailed it numbered one hundred and forty emigrants 
and forty sailors. 

Preparations for Winter.- — There was much to be done 
before such a number was prepared to face the cold and 
hardships of the winter, and as soon as adequate shelter had 
been provided the ground was cleared and corn planted. 
The forests abounded in game and the waters in fish, and the 
colonists had reason to feel that their new life was. happily 
and satisfactorily begun. 

Hostility of the Indians. — They had, however, received 
a warning that they were not to be permitted to have peaceful 
possession of the country. Soon after landing a voyage of 
exploration was made up the James to the village of Powha- 
tan, the great chief of that region, one of whose residences 
was near the falls of the river, not far from the present site 
of Richmond. The voyagers did not receive a very cordial 
welcome from him, and soon turned their faces homeward 
to find that trouble had already begun there. The Indians 
had attacked the settlers, killing one man and wounding 
others, but were finally routed by the cannon on board the 
ships. These cannon were loaded with a curious missile in 
the shape of a cross, which cut the limbs and branches from 
the trees as it passed through them ; this greatly alarmed the 
natives, and caused them to withdraw. 

Measures for Defence. — After this experience greater 
precautions were taken by the colonists to guard against 



Virginia axd Virginians 



37 




surprise. A palisade was built and sentinels were regularly 
posted. Finally Powhatan made overtures for peace, and 
the prospects of the settlers seeming brighter, Captain New- 
port sailed for England for fresh supplies, 
leaving a small vessel for the use of the 
colon\ m his absence. 

A New Danger. — But a new dan- 
r now threatened them. 
The spot which they had 
selected as a place of resi- 
dence was most unhealthy. 
The hot suns of the sum- 
mer and the malarial at- 
mosphere of the swanios 
and marshes about them 
soon bred sickness. 

The Mortality. — Fevers 
broke out among them, and 
weakened from insufficient 
food and want of proper nursing, many died of disease and 
of the exhaustion of hunger. It is said that out of about 
one hundred living in Jamestown in June, 1607, sixty-seven 
were dead by the following January. Had the Indians 
chosen to attack them then, they would have fallen an easy 
prey to the arrow and the tomahawk. 

Wingfield's Incapacity. — But the greatest evil which 
threatened them arose from the incapacity of the governor 
and his friends. Their sole object in coming to Virginia 
seems to have been to acquire a share in whatever profits 
might accrue from the enterprise. Disappointed in this 
they had but one intention and aim — to live in all the ease 
and comfort possible, under the circumstances, and to desert 
at the first opportunity. 

His Attempt to Desert. — Before the summer was over 
Gosnold died of the. fever, and Wingfield and Kendall made 



ATTACKED EY Til 



38 Young People's History 

an effort to steal the vessel Newport had left and escape to 
England. They were stopped, and their comrades, indig- 
nant at their cowardice and treachery, deposed the one and 
tried and executed the other. 

Smith Procures Food.— All eyes were now turned to Smith 
as the one man who might save them in their great peril. 
Much of their suffering was the result of their own folly, but 
their Heavenly Father, to whom they prayed each night 
and morning, did not desert them. The Indians, pitying 
their misfortunes, brought them some grain, and Smith set 
out to look for more. Finding his friendly overtures and 
requests rejected, he forced the Indians to give him what 
he needed for his starving comrades. 

Returning Prosperity. — The terrible summer of 1607 
dragged itself slov/ly to a close and with the frosts of autumn 
the fever abated, and the sick and exhausted colonists gained 
new health and strength. They were able to gather their 
crops and were relieved from the dread of starvation and 
disease. 

The Fire of 1608. — The winter was passed in safety, but 
toward the spring a conflagration broke out which quickly 
destroyed the frail cabins of the settlers. They were, how- 
ever, soon replaced, and the colonists quietly pursued their 
various occupations. They should have learned wisdom 
from the sad experiences of the summer, but such lessons 
are soon forgot. 

The Gold Fever. — The discovery of some yellow earth 
near Jamestown awakened the old thirst for gold which had 
lain dormant during the severe trial of the past year. Every 
interest was neglected, and from morning till night they did 
nothing but work for the treasure they believed they had 
found. Smith alone refused to have any confidence in the 
value of the disco verv, and urged his comrades not to waste 
their time and their hopes uxjon so foolish a venture. But 



OF Virginia and Virginians 39 

they refused to listen to him, and were only convinced when 
a shipload of the stuff had been sent to England and pro- 
nounced worthless. 

Wild Turkeys and Potatoes.— At the same time a dozen 
or more wild turkeys were carried to England, the first ever 
seen there. Sir Walter Raleigh had likewise introduced into 
Ireland the potato, which had been found by the Spaniards 
growing in the West Indies. It grew and flourished so in 
its new home that its birthplace was forgot and it was named 
for the land of its adoption. 

Smith Ascends the Chickahominy. — In December, 1607, 
Smith set out with a party in an open boat to explore the 
Chickahominy and also to procure corn for the colony. 
When he had journeyed some distance up the stream the boat, 
v/ith most of the men in it, was left with instructions to keep 
in mid stream, and Smith, in a canoe with two companions, 
Robinson and Emery, pursued his way farther up the river. 
As soon as he had left, the men in the barge disobeyed his 
order and landed. It chanced that pe can'canough, Pow- 
hatan's wily and treacherous brother, was hunting with a 
large band of warriors in the neighborhood, and came 
suddenly upon the party, capturing one of them, George 
Cassein, the rest barely escaping with their lives. He forced 
Cassein to tell him whither Smith had gone and immediately 
sent a party in pursuit of him. 

Capture of Smith.^In the meanwhile Smith, ignorant of 
what had passed, had gone ashore in search of food for his 
companions. The Indians surprised Robinson and Emery 
while they were asleep beside their fire and, killing them both, 
hurried on after Smith. They overtook him, and a sharp 
encounter followed. He captured one of his enemies, and 
holding his body before him as a shield, kept the others. for a 
time at bay. But, unfortunately, he stumbled into a bog, 
where, sinking up to the waist in the slime and mud, he was 
at last forced to surrender. 



40 VouNG People's History 

Eis Coolness. — He gained the good will of his captors bv 
showing them his pocket-compass and explaining to them 
its use. He was then conducted in safety to Opecanca- 
nough, who was greatly delighted at having secured so dis- 
tinguished a captive. 

Carried from Town to Town. — Smith was carried around 
in a sort of triumphal procession and exhibited to all the 
neighboring tribes between the James and the Potomac, 
suffering meanwhile no violence at the hands of his captors. 
On the contrary, they treated him with consideration, hos- 
pitably urging him to eat much and often. But, suspicious 
of their intentions and ignorant of their customs, he became 
apprehensive lest they wished to fatten him in order that he 
might serve as the chief dish at some future feast, and so 
hoping to postpone the evil day, he ate very little. 

Condemned to Death. — At last he was conducted to Pow- 
hatan, then residing at We ro wo co'mi co, in the present 
county of Gloucester, where a council was held to determine 
his fate. The deliberations were long and earnest, but it 
was finally decided that he was too dangerous a foe to set at 
liberty, and preparations were made for his execution. A 
large stone was selected to serve as a block, and his brains 
were to be dashed out on it with a club. He was dragged 
to the spot, bound, and his head placed upon the stone, while 
a powerful Indian lifted his club to strike the fatal blow. 
Just at this instant Powhatan's young daughter, Pocahontas, 
rushed forward, and throwing herself between the execu- 
tioner and his victim, prayed her father to spare Smith's 
life. Powhatan was tenderly attached to this child, and 
finally granted what she asked. Smith was reprieved, and 
after being kept in captivity a few days longer was per- 
mitted to return to Jamestown. 

The Friendship of Pocahontas. — This incident was the 
beginning of the friendship between Pocahontas and the 
colonists — a friendship which was to prove of inestimable 




i- 



'&" 






\> 



^ 




42 Young People's History 

value to the latter. Many times when starvation threatened 
them Pocahontas brought them food, and more than once 
warned them of danger from her own people. 

Truth of the Story. — Some do not believe this narrative 
of the rescue of Smith by Pocahontas, one of the most pictur- 
esque incidents which brightens the otherwise dull pages 
of history; but Smith himself says that she saved his life 
at the risk of her own, and there is no reason to doubt the 
truth of his statement. Her attachment to Smith and 
friendship for the English would be wholly inexplicable 
unless viewed in the light of this incident. The scene is 
worthy of the artist's pencil, and has been frequently pictured: 
The throng of gaudily painted savages crowding about the 
stalwart soldier, who is being hurried to his death ; the slender 
figure of the Indian girl, periling her own life to save his, 
and around them on every side the smiling Virginia land- 
scape in all its original beauty. Doubtless the loyal and 
honest gentleman who strove to do his' duty to his fellow- 
man, and who has recorded his faith in the providence of 
God, lifted his heart in a last appeal for succor in his hour 
of need, and received it when all seemed lost. 

QUESTIONS 

1. What was the number of the colonists? 

2. What was the work before them? 

3. What warning did they have? 

4. What measures were taken for defence? 

5. What new dangers threatened them? 
G. How many died? 

7. Tell about W^ingfield and his attempt to desert. 

8. Who took charge of the colony? 

9. How was food obtained? 

10. When did the sickness abate? 

11. What disaster befell them in the spring? 

12. What put an end to all profitable work in the colony for a time? 

13. What common domestic fowl is a native of America? 

14. What vegetable had Sir Walter Raleigh introduced into Ireland ? 

15. Where had it been foimd? 

IG. Tell of Smith's trip up the Chickahominy and of his capture. 

17. What was done with him, and before whom was he carried ? 

18. Tell of the preparations for his execution and of his rescue. 

19. How did this incident affect the colonists. 



OF Virginia and Virginians 



43 



CHAPTER V 

SMITH EXPLORES CHESAPEAKE BAY AN ADDITION TO THE COLONY 

CORONATION OF POWHATAN SCARCITY OF CORN SMITH's VISIT TO 

PO^VHATAN AND OPECANCANOUGH LORD DELAWARE. 

Exploring the Chesapeake. — In the summer of 1608 Smith, 
with tourteen companion^; undertook an extended explora- 




SMITH EXPLORING THE CHhbAPEAK 



tion of the waters of Chesapeake Bay and the adjacent 
country. The king had expressly ordered that efforts to 
find a short route to Asia should be made, and Smith, like 
many others, believed it might be accomplished by following 
some of the water courses which fell into Chesapeake Bay. 
Smith's Perils and Courage. — He and his party were gone 
three months, and experienced numberless adventures while 



44 Young People's History 

on the trip. They suffered many privations and perils, 
and would have soon become discouraged and given up the 
attempt but for the influence and example of their leader. 
His courage and cheerfulness never forsook him. He made 
friends of the natives wherever it was possible to do so, but 
when they refused him the assistance he desired, he forced 
them to provide the food necessary for the lives of his party. 
He protected his boat from their arrows by placing shields 
and mats of reeds along its sides, and his vigilance and 
watchfulness never ceased. Each night and morning the 
little party prayed and chanted a psalm, and thus toiling 
and praying made their way home after traversing nearly 
three thousand miles. 

Ratcliffe's Incapacity. — They reached Jamestown to find 
the colony worn out with the folly and incapacity of Ratcliffe, 
who had been left in charge of it. A sentence of death would 
probably have been passed upon him but for the efforts made 
in his behalf by Smith, who was now elected president. 

Smith's Message to Hudson. — It is said. that after this 
voyage Smith sent to his friend Henry Hudson, in London, 
a map of the regions he had explored and advised him to 
seek to the northward of Chesapeake Bay for the road to 
China. Hudson followed his advice, and discovered the 
river and bay which bears his name. 

Newport's Return. — Late in the autumn Newport arrived, 
bringing fresh supplies and about seventy new settlers, two 
of whom, Mrs. Forrest and her maid, Anne Burruss, were 
women. He also brought a crown for King Powhatan, 
with orders from the London Council that it should be placed 
upon the head of the Indian chief, and a message was sent 
to that potentate requesting him to come to Jamestown 
and receive his decoration. This he promptly refused to 
do, saying, "This is my country, and I am as great a king 
as your own. If vou wish to see me, come to my home." 

Visit to Powhatan. — As the king declined to come for his 



OF Virginia and Virginians 45 

crown, it was decided to take the crown to the king, and 
Smith and Newport set out with a party for Werowocomico 
for that purpose. With the crown they carried also a bed, 
a basin and pitcher, and a scarlet cloak for his royal use. 
They reached the neighborhood of the village about nightfall, 
and, building a fire, decided to wait until next day to deliver 
their gifts. 

Entertained by Pocahontas. — While they were gathered 
about the blaze, resting after their day's march, they heard 
the sound of music and saw coming toward them a band of 
Indian girls led by Pocahontas. They danced about the 
white men, and finally led them to a wigwam, where they 
were given supper and comfortable quarters for the night. 

Coronation of Powhatan. — Powhatan was willing enough 
to accept the bed and the basin and pitcher. The scarlet 
cloak gave him much satisfaction, but when he was requested 
to kneel down that the crown might be placed on his head, 
he rebelled again and was with great difficulty induced to 
consent to assume the requisite position. However, the 
coronation being at length peacefully accomplished, he gra- 
ciously collected his old moccasins and the blanket of skins 
which had formerly constituted his state costume, and, 
making them into a bundle, sent them to his brother, the 
King of England, for his own especial use. ' 

The Result. — Unfortunately, the king's gifts did not have 
the effect expected upon the Virginia sovereign. Powhatan, 
who had never owned a bed or a basin and pitcher before, 
much less a scarlet cloak and a crown, now thought himself 
so important a personage that he became more aggressive 
and less obliging every day. 

Searching for Gold. — Besides the gifts for Powhatan, 
Newport bore fresh orders for discovering the East Indian 
route and for bringing back to England the gold which the 
king and the London Council had decided could easily be 



46 Young People's History 

found if the colonists would only look for it. Newport made 
a feeble and unsuccessful effort to fulfill these commands 
himself, but failing, once more turned his face homeward, 
leaving Smith at the head of affairs. 

Condition of the Colony. — Meanwhile, the winter was 
approaching and the question of food was pressing upon the 
colonists. They now numbered about two hundred men 
and it was no light task to provide food for so many. Pow- 
hatan, as has been said, was less inclined than ever to aid 
them, and their future seemed unpromising enough. But 
they had at their head a man whose courage never faltered 
and who was prepared to fight to the death if necessary in 
their behalf. As the old writers tell us, "the Spaniards did 
not more greedily desire gold than Captain Smith food." 

Smith Visits Powhatan to Procure Com. — So once again 
he set out to visit Powhatan at his home on York River, 
and make a request for com. On his way he was warned 
that he would meet with treachery, but he was doubtless 
already prepared for the worst, and was on his guard for 
every sign of peril. 

Warned by Pocahontas. — The night after his arrival at 
the Indian village, Pocahontas secretly warned him again 
that great danger threatened the party, and all night they 
waited for an attack, which, however, never came. The 
next morning Powhatan finally consented to assist them 
and loaded some of their boats with the com they sorely 
needed. 

Treachery of Opecancanough. — Before returning. Smith 
decided to go up the river to the village of his old acquaint- 
ance, Opecancanough, which stood at the junction of the 
Mattaponi and Pamunkey, where West Point now stands. 
He was conducted to the chief's presence, where he was 
cordially welcomed and readily promised all he desired. 
Suddenly his men, who were waiting without, shouted to 
him to beware, and Smith, glancing through the opening 



OF Virginia and Virginians 47 

in the wigwam, saw that his party and himself were sur- 
rounded by armed savages. 

Smith's Presence of Mind. — Without an instant's hesi- 
tation he caught his smihng host by his long hair, and, put- 
ting a pistol to his head, commanded him to either give him 
the corn or prepare to die. Opecancanough, realizing that 
he had the worst of the situation, followed Powhatan's 
example and furnished the supplies demanded. 

Smith's Plans for the Future — The winter was passed in 
safety, and in the spring Smith set vigorously to work to 
raise enough grain to guard against a recurrence of the danger 
of famine; but in the midst of his labors an interruption 
occurred which put an end to all his plans and deprived the 
colony of his services forever. 

His Enemies. — While he had been devoting his best 
energies to the work before him, the men whom he had sup- 
planted and displaced had not been idle. Ratclifife and 
Newport were his bitter enemies and, when they returned 
to England, filled the ears of the London Council with false- 
hoods against him. He was charged with being unfaithful 
to his trust and disloyal to the company. It was said he 
oppressed the Indians and that he meant to marry Poca- 
hontas and make himself king of Virginia. 

A New Charter. — The result was that a change in the gov- 
ernment of the colony was decided upon. The king made a 
new charter providing for a governor, lieutenant-governor and 
an admiral, who were to have unlimited authority in conduct- 
ing affairs in Virginia. Smith was summarily ordered home. 

Lord Delaware. — Lord Delaware was appointed governor 
with Sir George Somers and Sir Thomas Gates as his 
subordinates. With them was to go a fleet of nine vessels, 
carrying five hundred settlers of all ages — men, women, and 
children. They set sail in May, 1609, with all the company, 
except Lord Delaware. He was to follow later. 



48 Young Feople's History 

Wrecking of the Sea Venture. — When within a few days' 
sail of their destination the fleet encountered a storm, which 
separated them, driving one of the vessels, the Sea Venture, 
which bore Newport, Sir Thomas Gates and Admiral Somers, 
together with more than a hundred of the company, helpless 
before it. At last the vessel struck upon a rock and the 
terror-stricken voyagers thought the end had come, but in 
another moment the waves lifted her again and she finally 
grounded in safety. They had been landed upon one of the 
Bermuda Islands, and here for nearly a year they lived in 
security and comparative comfort, striving all the while for 
means to reach their comrades in Virginia. One small vessel 
was lost. The other vessels reached Jamestown' in safety. 

QUESTIONS 

1. What further explorations did Smith make, and with what object? 

2. How long were they gone, and how far did they travel? 

3. Who was in charge during Smith's absence, and what was the 
state of the colony? 

4. What message did Smith send to Hudson? 

5. When did Newport return, and what did he bring? 

6. What were the names of the first women to settle in the colony? 

7. What invitation was sent, and to whom? 

8. What the reply? 

9. Tell of Smith and Newport's visit to Powhatan. 

10. How were they entertained? 

11. How were the presents received? 

12. What return did he make? 

13. What was the effect on Powhatan? 

14. What other orders had Newport? 

15. Of what were the colonists in need? 

16. How did Smith procure it? 

17. Tell of his adventure wth Opecancanough. 

18. Who were Smith's enemies among the colonists? 

19. What charges did thev make against him? 

20. Tell about the new charter and what changes were made. 

21. Who was appointed governor, and who were his assistants? 

22. Give an accoimt of their voyage across the Atlantic. 



OF Virginia and Virginians 49 



CHAPTER VI 

THE SHIPWRECKED COLONISTS UPON BERMUDA ARRIVAL IN VIRGINIA 

SMITH DEPOSED HIS ACCIDENT AND DEPARTITRE TROUBLES OF THE 

COLONY "the STARVING TIME " JAMESTOWN DESERTED ARRIVAL 

OF LORD DELAWARE. 

On the Bermudas.— It is not often that castaways upon 
a desert island are as happily situated as were the passengers 
and crew of the Sea Venture. Their story reads like the 
history of Robinson Crusoe, and in industry and ingenuity 
they almost equalled that wonderful man. 

Religious Worship. — Like the Jamestown settlers, their 
first thought was to thank God for their rescue and to pre- 
pare a place in which to worship and praise Him. Their 
church was under the green boughs of the forest trees, and 
the bell of the ship called them each morning and evening 
at the hour of prayer. There was a marriage among them, 
and children were born, one of them being the daughter of an 
English gentleman, John Rolfe, of whom we shall hear again. 
The climate was mild, and fruits and vegetation were abundant 
and luxurious. They had saved the cargo of the ship, and alto- 
gether there was much to give them comfort and hope. 

Efforts to Reach Virginia. — They never relaxed their 
efforts to communicate with their friends in Virginia, and 
one of the ship's boats set out to make its way thither. No 
trace of the boat and its crew was ever found, and it was 
probably lost in one of the sudden squalls so common in 
that region. 

Arrival at Jamestown. — At length they succeeded in 
building from the wreck of their ship and timber cut on the 
island two small vessels, in which they embarked; and in 
May, 1 6 10, after a fortnight at sea, they reached Jamestown. 



50 Young People's History 

State of the Colony. — Meantime, many changes had come 
to pass there. RatcHffe, with the remainder of the fleet 
and its company, had arrived, and his first act was to notify 
Smith that he was deposed. The latter had already been 
warned of the intentions of the London Council, and received 
the news with characteristic courage. He had deserved 
better treatment at the hands of the company, but he was 
too much of a philosopher to expect it and too proud to court 
the favor of those who were to supplant him. 

Smith Prepares to Leave. — He made ready for his depart- 
ure, announcing that he would go as soon as his properly 
and duly appointed successor arrived. One thing he refused 
absolutely to do, and that was to deliver up his authority 
to Ratcliffe. The latter, meanwhile, did all he could to foster 
a distrust of Smith among the newly-arrived emigrants, and 
encouraged them to insubordination of every sort. 

Smith's Accident. — Smith did not falter in his duty 
because he was so soon to be superseded. Learning that 
one of the settlements not far from Jamestown was threat- 
ening to renounce his authority, he set out to investigate 
the matter. On the way a bag of gunpowder accidentally 
exploded in his boat, while he was asleep, and he was terribly 
burned. His sufferings were so great that he sprang over- 
board to smother the flames, and in his helplessness came 
near drowning. He was carried back to Jamestown, where 
his enemies, instead of pitying his sufferings, made a cowardly 
attempt to murder him. 

Sets Out for England. — Worn out at last by his suffer- 
ings and the ingratitude that was shown him, he resolved 
not to await the arrival of Lord Delaware, but to go to Eng- 
land, that he might procure proper medical treatment for his 
wounds. He therefore bade adieu to the comrades for whom 
he had labored so faithfully and suffered so much, and his 
name has no longer a place on the pages of Virginia's history. 



OF Virginia and Virginians 51 

Smith's Services and Character. — He was the best friend 
of the colony in its hour of need. In its service his courage 
never faltered, his cheerfulness never flagged, and his devo- 
tion never swerved. He was entitled to the gratitude not 
only of his contemporaries, but of those who took up the 
work when his busy hands were forced to lay it down. His 
virtues have been recorded by many authentic witnesses; 
his faults proclaimed by those who envied his merit and the 
success he commanded, but such testimony should not be 
trusted. He has been called a boaster and accused of false- 
hood, and, while he undoubtedly loved praise and did not 
hesitate to record his own achievements, there is no proof 
that he misstated facts. After his return to London he was 
treated with respect and confidence by men of high position 
there, and was honored by the king. He made other voyages 
and visited New England, but his connection with the Vir- 
ginia colony was ended. 

Smith's Death. — He died in London in 163 1, and was 
buried in St. Sepulchre's church. Over his head was 
carved his shield and the crest that Sigismund had given 
him. Such a man must of necessity have both friends and 
enemies. Let us number ourselves among the former. 

George Percy. — It was September when Smith left James- 
town. George Percy succeeded him as president of the 
colony until Lord Delaware should arrive. Unfortunately, 
Ratcliffe with a band of idle, dissipated, quarrelsome com- 
panions remained to sow the seeds of evil. 

Number and Condition of Colonists. — The colony num- 
bered nearly five himdred souls. There was ample provision 
for food if judiciously distributed, and no lack of weapons 
and means of defence against the Indians. With a wise 
hand at the helm, it seemed that all would go well. 

Incapacity of Percy.— But George Percy had not the 
requisite qualities for leadership. It was no easv task to 



52 Young People's History 

maintain order with so many elements of discord at hand. 
The savages, too, now that Smith was gone, made haste 
to avail themselves of the opportunity offered them and 
renewed their hostilities toward the whites. 

Indian Hostilities— Other Troubles.— Ratcliffe and thirty 
of his companions were captured by the savages and 
slain, and with every day that passed the trouble increased. 
Percy was stricken with illness, and mutiny and disorder 
reigned. The food was all consumed or wasted, and again 
famine stared the colonists in the face. The Indians con- 
stantly harassed them, murdering now one little party of 
hunters or fishermen and now another. The people became 
so desperate for want of food that they welcomed death as 
an end to their sufferings. 

"The Starving Time." — Some were even driven to canni- 
balism and ate the bodies of the Indians or of their own 
comrades who had perished. "The Starving Time," as it 
was called, lasted six months, and in that period 450 of the 
500 colonists died, while the rest helplessly awaited their 
turn. I Suddenly, in May, 1610, the cry of "A sail!" was 
heard, and presently there landed Sir Thomas Gates and 
Admiral Somers with their companions from the Bermudas. 

Jamestown Deserted. — Amazed and discouraged at find- 
ing hunger and destitution where they had expected pros- 
perity and plenty. Gates and Somers took council as to what 
they should do. Their people besought them piteously 
to take them away from the scene of their bitter misfortune, 
and finally it was decided to embark for England. We can 
picture the joy that the decision brought to many a sad 
and homesick heart. The final preparations were speedily 
made, and within a few days after their arrival everything 
was ready for the return voyage, and the little company 
bade what seemed a last farewell to their Virginia homes. 
It was with difficulty that Sir Thomas Gates prevented some 



■8 f 




L -'^ ] 



54 Young People's History 

of them from setting fire to the town in which they had ex- 
perienced so much suffering and endured so many hardships. 

The Coming of Lord Delaware. — They weighed anchor 
and were making their way down the river, when a boat 
was seen approaching from the opposite direction. When 
it reached them they found it contained a messenger from 
Lord Delaware, who had crossed the ocean at last and reached 
Virginia just in time to prevent and forestall the extinction 
of the enterprise which had proved so costly not only in 
money but in suffering. 

Return to Jamestown. — Together the ships returned to 
the wharves at Jamestown. The settlers disembarked and 
re-established themselves in their old quarters. Lord Dela- 
ware's first act on landing was to kneel long and silently 
in prayer. Then he arose and going into the empty and 
deserted church assembled the people for service. Here a 
sermon was preached by' the Rev. Mr. Bucke, their minister. 
It; was long since those walls had echoed to the^ sound of 
praise and thanksgiving, and when it was ended Lord Dela- 
ware spoke earnestly to the congregation, reminding them 
of the evils they had suffered because of their own folly, and 
urging them to new efforts for a happier future. And so 
once again the happy voices of children were heard in the 
deserted streets, the fires were rekindled on many a hearth 
that had grown cold, and a new and better era dawned for 
this little band of English settlers on Virginia shores. 

QUESTIONS 

1. Tell about the shipwrecked colonists on the Bermudas. 

2. When and how did they reach Jamestown? 

3. What was the condition of the colony? 

4. How did Smith receive the news of his removal? 

5. What accident happened to him? 

6. Tell of his departure and services. 

7. When did he die, and where was he buried? 

8. Who succeeded Smith? 

9. What was the number of the colonists when Smith left? 
10. What was their condition? 



OF Virginia and Virginians 55 

11. Tell of Percy's administration and "The Starving Time." 

12. I'ell of the arrival of the vessels from Bermuda. 

13. To what determination did they come? 

14. What fortunately prevented the final abandonment of the 
colony? 

15. Tell of the return to Jamestov.-n and what was done. 



56 Young People's History 

SYNOPSIS FOR REYIEW 



Chapter IV — Number of Colonists. 
Work to be done. 
Indian Hostilitj-. 
Defensive Measures. 
A New Danger. 

Official Incapacity and Treachery. 
Corn Procured. 
Return of Prosperity. 
The Fire of IGOS. 
The Gold Fever. 

Smith Explores the Chickahominj'. 
Smith Captured — His Condemnation and Rescue. 
Pocahontas. 

Chapter V — Smith Explores the Chesapeake. 
His Perils and Courage. 
RatcHffe's Incapacity. 
Newport's Return. 
Visit to Powhatan. 
Entertained by Pocahontas. 
Coronation of Powhatan — The Result. 
Searching for Gold. 
The Condition of the Colony. 
Smith's Visit to Powhatan to Procure Com. 
Warned by Pocahontas — Opecancanough's Treachery. 
Smith's Presence of Mind — His Plans for the Future. 
His Enemies. 
A New Charter. 
Lord Delaware. 
The Wreck on the Bermudas. 

Chapter VI — On the Bermudas. 
Religious Worship. 
Efforts to Reach Virginia. 
Arrival at Jamesto\Mi. 
State of the Colony. 
Smith Prepares to Leave. . 
Smith's Accident. 
S^iith Sets Out for England. 
Smith's Services and Character. 
His Death. 
George Percy. 

Ntimber and Condition of the Colonists. 
Incapacity of Percy. 

Indian Hostilities Renewed — Other Troubles. 
"The Starving Time." 
Jamestown Deserted. 
Coming of Lord Delaware. 
Return to Jamestown. 



OF Virginia and Virginians 57 



CHAPTER VII 

LORD Delaware's government — sir thomas dale — capture of 

POCAHONTAS HER MARRIAGE AND DEATH DEATH OF POWHATAN 

LAND ASSIGNED TO COLONISTS. 

Delaware's Government.— With the new rulers a new 
order of things prevailed and the old spirit of insubordina- 
tion and unrest was replaced by one of 
discipline and tranquility. Lord Dela- 
ware realized the strength of his own 
authority and he proposed to make 
others recognize it. 

Vice-Regal Ceremonies. — In order 
that the line which separated the noble- 
man and the governor from his subordi- 
nates might be the more clearly marked, 
he surrounded himself and his official lord Delaware 
acts with much more pomp and cere- (FromPain.ingiu state capuoi) 
mony than had been observed by any of the governors who 
had gone before him. His attendance upon the daily services 
of the church was made in state with a red-coated guard of 
honor about him, and he sat upon a velvet chair and had a 
cushion of the same fabric to kneel upon. The old chroniclers 
who have painted so clearly and vividly the men and events 
of those times have described minutely the church at James- 
town in which Lord Delaware worshipped, as well as his stately 
progress to and from the services, where he set an example by 
the earnestness of his devotion as well as by the regularity of 
his attendance. 

His Return to England. — It would have been well for 
the colony could his wise spirit and earnest character have 
continued to guide and control it. But, unfortunately, 
his health failed, and prostrated by the malarial atmosphere 
of Jamestown, he was soon forced to return to England. 





RUINS OF THE OLD CHURCH TOWER AT JAMESTOWN 

[58] 



OF Virginia and Virginians 59 

His Vigorous Measures. — Before he went he ma-ugurated 
a vigorous poHcy in deahng with the Indians and enacted 
firm and judicious laws for the future guidance of the colony. 
In the early spring of 161 1 he sailed for England intending 
some day to return to Virginia, and seven years later he did 
actually set out upon his western voyage but died on the way. 

Sir Thomas Dale. — His successor was Sir Thomas Dale, 
who reached the colony two months after Delaware's de- 
parture. He found that even in this short time discipline 
had become relaxed and idleness once more prevailed. But 
his stout heart and strong hand did not shrink from the task 
before him, and the most stubborn were soon reduced to 
order by his severe methods. He was soon to preside at 
an occasion of more than usual importance and interest, 
not only to the colony but to the Indians as well. 

Capture of Pocahontas. — In the summer of 161 2 Poca- 
hontas left her father's village to pay a visit to I a pa'gaws, 
an old chief living on the Potomac, near the mouth of Nomini 
Creek. There was in Jamestown at this time a man named 
Argall, a clever but unprincipled sea captain, who thought 
that if the English could get possession of Pocahontas they 
might hold her as a hostage for future good faith on the part 
of the Indians. So he agreed with lapagaws to give him a 
copper kettle if he would betray Pocahontas into his hands. 
The Indians had no metal vessels or implements of any sort, 
and the offer of a copper kettle was a bribe few Indians could 
resist, and lapagaws readily agreed to do as Argall wished. 
On pretext of a friendly visit, the chief and his wife, accom- 
panied by the unsuspecting Pocahontas, went on board 
Argall's sloop, where she was deserted by her friends and 
left weeping bitterly. She was carried to Jamestown where 
she remained for over a year. 

Anger of Powhatan. — Powhatan, so far from being hum- 
bled by his daughter's captivity, was terribly angered by 



6o 



Young People's History 



wlmt he justly considered the ingratitude of the EngUsh 
toward one who had so often befriended them. He reso- 
hitely refused to hold any communication with the colonists 
or to reply to any overtures looking to her release. The old 
ST)irit of friendliness was gone and distrust and hatred re- 
mained in its place. 

Mr. John Rolfe.^Sir Thomas Dale had just decided that 




POCAHOXTAS 

decisive measures must be taken with the Indians when he 
received a letter from Mr. John Rolfe, a gentleman of good 
standing in the colony, requesting his consent to marry 
Pocahontas. The governor was greatly pleased with this 
peaceful solution of the diffictilties before him, and, believing 
that such a marriage would permanently cement the friend- 



OF Virginia and Virginians 6i 

ship between the two races, he gave his cordial assent to the 
proposal. Powhatan also signified his approval, and although 
he refused to come to Jamestown, sent his brother, O pa chis'to, 
and two sons, to represent him at the ceremony. 

Baptism and Marriage of Pocahontas— Her Visit to 
England. — Pocahontas was baptized, receiving the name 
of Rebecca, and was soon thereafter married to John Rolfe 
in the church at Jamestown, in April, 1613. Three years 
later she accompanied her husband to London, where she 
was known as the "Lady Rebecca," and was received with 
great distinction and presented at court. 

Her Meeting with Smith. — Here she met again her old 
friend, Captain John Smith. She was overcome with sur- 
prise at seeing him once more and showed deep emotion, 
for she had been told that he was dead. 

Death of Pocahontas. — Pocahontas died suddenly in March, 
1 61 7, at Gravesend, England, just as she was on the point of 
returning to Virginia. She left one son, who, when he was 
grown, returned to Virginia as Lieutenant Thomas Rolfe. 
From him are descended some of the most prominent families 
in our State. 

Tobacco. — John Rolfe was the first Englishman to culti- 
vate tobacco in Virginia. It was soon to become a staple 
product and a source of great revenue to the colony. 

Abdication and Death of Powhatan.— Powhatan never 
recovered from the blow which the loss of his favorite child 
inflicted on him, and shortly after her death he resigned his 
throne to his brother, O pe ti cha'pan. He was in turn suc- 
ceeded by Opecancanough, destined to prove a bitter and 
implacable foe to the English. Powhatan died in 16 18, and 
Opecancanough reigned in his stead. 

Dale's Iron Government. — Sir Thomas Dale remained 
in ofhce five years, and under him the settlement flourished, 
although there is no doubt that his rale was one of needless 



62 



Young People's History 



severity, and he was in consequence most unpopular with 
the people. Flogging and irons were the punishments 
inflicted for laziness. Mutineers and deserters were put to 
death with great cruelty. These were broken on the wheel, 
while the theft of food was punished by starvation. 




GRAVE OF CHIEF POWHATAN, NEAR RICHMOND 

Regulation of Labor. — He, however, instituted wise re- 
forms — among others the law regulating the daily labors 
of the colonists. Up to this time all the colonists had worked 
together for the comm_on good, an arrangement which inva- 
riably results in encouraging idleness and in forcing the 
industrious to support the drones in the hive. 



OF Virginia and Virginians 63 

Land Assigned to Colonists.— Long before this the settlers 
had been promised that each would in time possess a portion 
of land in his own right, but this pledge had never been car- 
ried out. Governor Dale decided that it should be, and 
gave to those who had been longest in the colony three acres 
of ground with the privilege of spending eleven months in 
each year in its cultivation. The rest of the time they must 
labor for the common good of all. 

Effect of this Measure. — This stimulated their personal 
industry and added to the general prosperity. Later on 
this good beginning was carried still further, the London 
Company granting fifty acres to each colonist for a homestead 
on payment of a nominal rent. The payment of twelve 
pounds ten shillings entitled the settler to one hundred acres 
in his own right. 

QUESTIONS 

1 . Tell of Lord Delaware's government. 

2. What ceremonies were observed, and why? 
.3. What was his course towards the Indians? 

4. When and why did he return to England? 

5. Who succeeded him, and what was his character? 
G. Tell about the capture of Pocahontas. 

7. What was the effect on Powhatan? 

8. What happy event brought a peaceful end of the trouble ? 

9. Tell the story of this. 

10. Tell of the visit to England and of the death of Pocahontas. 

11. Who introduced the cultivation of tobacco? 

12. When did Powhatan die, and who succeeded him? 
1.3. Tell something of Dale's government. 

14. What wise changes did he make? 

15. What was the effect? 



64 Young People's History 



CHAPTER VIII 

DALE RETURNS TO ENGLAND ARGAI.l's RULE FIRST COLONLA.L AS- 
SEMBLY NEW CHARTER CARGO OF MAIDENS ARRIVE NEGROES 

IMPORTED SLAVERY MASSACRE OF 1G22 DISSOLUTION OF THE 

LONDON COMPANY. 

Dale's Return to England. — In 1616 Sir Thomas Dale 
returned to England, leaving the colony in a prosperous 
and happy condition. It now numbered over three 
hundred and fifty souls, and had expanded into nearly a 
dozen settlements. 

George Yeardley.— Dale left George Yeardley in charge of 
affairs, but in less than a year he was superseded by that 
Captain Argall, who had stolen Pocahontas and carried her 
in captivity to Jamestown. 

Argall's Dishonesty. — There was little to recommend 
Argall save his ability. He was cruel, rapacious, and 
utterly unscrupulous and dishonest, and eventually the 
London Company was forced to recall him. He did not 
go empty-handed, however, but carried home a shipload of 
plunder for his own use. 

Yeardley Again Governor — First Colonial Assembly. — 

Yeardley returned in i6ig, doubly welcomed after the des- 
potic rule of Argall. Believing the colonists should have 
"a hande in the government of themselves," he called at 
Jamestown, July 30, 16 19, nearly one year and five months 
before" the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, the first 
popular legislative assembly held on this continent. It was 
composed of two representatives from each of the eleven 
boroughs into which the colony was divided; hence the 
assembly was called the House of Burgesses. These, with 
the governor and the newly-appointed council, were em- 



OF Virginia and Virginians 65 

powered to make laws for the government of the colony. 
The right then acquired of making laws for their own govern- 
ment the Virginians ever afterward asserted. Its denial was 
the cause of the war of the Revolution, and it was 
to vindicate this right of self-government that the people 
of the South took up arms in the late war between the States. 
"Virginia was the first State in the world," says Bancroft, 
"composed of separate boroughs, diffused .over an extensive 
surface, where the government was organized on the prin- 
ciple of universal suffrage. All freemen, without exception,- 
were entitled to vote." 

The Great Charter. — On the 24th day of July, 162 1, the 
London Company established for Virginia a written consti- 
tution, which confirmed the rights which had been granted 
by Yeardley. It was a great charter, under which each Vir- 
ginian was to have a voice in the government of his own 
country. B}'' its terms the authority was to be placed in 
the hands of a governor, a council of state, and a general 
assembly. This was the foundation of free government in 
America, and upon this old charter, with its three branches, 
our present system is based. Our present Senate and House 
of Representatives in Washington and our governors and 
legislatures in the different states are but repetitions of this 
earlier form of colonial government. When this all-important 
document reached Virginia, guaranteeing to the colony self- 
government and the maintenance of its own laws, there was 
great and general rejoicing. 

Providing Wives for the Colonists. — The governmental 
affairs of the colony being satisfactorily arranged, the London 
Company turned its attention to social questions. Here- 
tofore most of the colonists were men, and a large proportion 
of them bachelors. It was believed that a man who had a 
wife and a home would do m.uch more efficient work in the 
community and be a better citizen than the man who had 

neither. Governor Yeardley held to this opinion, and he 
5 



66 Young People's History 

set to work to provide wives for those who were not already 
married. 

A Cargo of Maidens. — A shipload of nearly a hundred 
young English maidens of good name and character were 
brought to Virginia to be wooed and wedded. There was 
to be no compulsion in the matter. Each young man was 
at perfect liberty to select a partner to his taste, and she was 
equally at liberty to say "No." If he pleased her, however, 
they were married as soon as the gentleman had paid the 
company 1 20 pounds of tobacco to reimburse it for the expense 
of bringing his bride across the seas. 

Marrying and Giving in Marriage. — The good ship, with 
her precious cargo, arrived safely at Jamestown, and all the 
gay bachelors from the neighboring settlements flocked there 
to welcome it, and for some days there was little business 
transacted save that of marrying and giving in marriage. 
This would seem to us a very hasty fashion of conducting 
a very serious affair, but the result was so satisfactory to the 
A^oung women concerned in it that they wrote home and in- 
duced sixty of their friends to follow their example. 

Negroes Imported.^About this time another ship loaded 
with very different passengers was sailing to Virginia, where 
her cargo was to sow the seed of bitter trouble in years to 
come. In August, 16 19, a Dutch vessel arrived, having on 
board twenty negroes, who were offered to the neighboring 
planters for work in the tobacco and grain-fields, and were 
purchased by them. 

Slavery. — No question was raised as to the propriety of 
this act. Slavery had been practiced in all ages and among 
all sorts and conditions of men. The patriarch of the Bible 
numbered his bondmen as he did his cattle, and the serf 
of the feudal lord, with his iron collar, was no better than 
the beasts he tended. The life and liberty of men were not 
regarded in those days, and political offenders or prisoners 



OF Virginia and Virginians 67 

taken in battle were often sold and shipped by the nations 
of Europe to their colonies as bondservants. They were 
promised their freedom after a term of years, but if they were 
in debt to their employers they could be held longer. It was 
virtual slavery. 

Effects of Slavery. — It was an evil day for Virginia when 
the shipload of Africans was landed at Jamestown, but it 
was the first step toward the emancipation of the latter 
from the darkness and savagery of their native land. In the 
three centuries which have passed since then the negroes 
in this country have acquired a degree of civilization in 
marked contrast with the ignorance of their brethren at 
home, and thus out of the many evils of slavery has come 
to them this real good. 

Prosperity of the Colony. — And so amid much and grow- 
ing prosperity the year 1622 was reached. The Virginians 
were no longer numbered by hundreds but by thousands, 
and the settlements extended from the falls of the James to 
its mouth, and even to the shores east of Chesapeake Bay. 
Jamestown had become "James Cittie"; the House of Bur- 
gesses met there to represent and foster the interests of the 
colony, and many ships were loaded with tobacco at its 
wharves and sailed thence to England. Industry and good 
order prevailed, and the results were seen on every hand. 

Massacre of 1622.— Suddenly all this was changed, and 
in one short day scores of happy homes were left desolate. 
The author of all this evil was our old acquaintance Opecan- 
canough, who, through all these years, had professed the 
warmest friendship for the white people. His plans were 
laid with care and carried out with the utmost secrecy. He 
did not intend that his effort to rid himself of the whites 
should be a failure, so he waited and plotted till he had secured 
the cooperation of every tribe in the vicinity, and in the 
spring of 1622 the blow fell. The settlers were utterly un- 



68 Young People's History 

prepared for it and were ruthlessly murdered. Neither 
age nor sex was spared, and three hundred and fifty fell 
victims to the savage fury of their enemies. The slaughter 
would have been much greater had not an Indian convert 
warned his employer the night before of the plot and the 
latter hastened to Jamestown with the tidings. 

The Country Aroused. — Messengers were sent in every 
direction, but the time was too short to reach the outlying 
settlements and farmhouses, and in these the butchery was 
awful, for Opecancanough spared no one. The colonists 
speedily organized themselves into armed bands and falling 
upon the Indians soon reduced them to subjection, but the 
snake was only stunned, not killed, and in the years to come 
would lift its head and strike again. 

Dissolution of the London Company. — Meanwhile, in 
England a struggle of another sort was in progress — a struggle 
between the London Company and the king as to who should 
govern Virginia. It ended in the triumph of the latter, 
and from this time the crown of England was to dictate the 
policy of the colony. James at once set about composing 
a new set of laws for his subjects on this side of the water, 
but he never completed his task, for he died in March, 1625, 
and his son, Charles I, ascended the throne made vacant by 
his father's death. 

QUESTIONS 

1. When did Dale leave the Colony? 

2. What was its condition? 

3. How is this shown? 

4. Who succeeded him? 

5. Who was the next governor, and what can you tell about him? 
0. Who called the first Colonial Assembly, and when and where 

was it held? 

7. What can you tell about it? 

8. Why was it called the House of Burgesses? 

9. How was the power of the Assembly confirmed? 

10. Of what was this charter the foundation ? 

11. Tell about the cargo of maidens. 

12. What other persons were imported about this time? 



OF Virginia and Virginians 6g 

13. What is said of slavery at that time? 

14. What were bondservants? 

15. What were some of the effects of slaverj^? 

16. What was the condition of the colony in 1622? 

17. What notable event happened in that year? 

18. Tell about it. 

19. What struggle was going on in England about this time, and 
how did it end? 

20. Who succeeded James I as»King of England? 



70 Young People's Hi 



CHAPTER IX 

SIR JOHN HARVEY RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE LORD BALTIMORE WIL- 
LIAM CLAIBORNE SIR WILLIAM BERKELEY MASSACRE OF 1G44. 

Sir John Harvey Deposed. — During the next twenty 
years events marched rapidly in Virginia. One governor 
after another came and went, none of them of such im- 
portance that his name need be remembered, except, per- 
haps, that of Sir John Harvey, who conducted himself with 
sf) much injustice and dishonesty that the patience of the 
people was exhausted. Finally, worn out with his tyran- 
nies, they deposed him and sent him to England. 

Charles I Takes His Part.— When he reached England, 
he promptly laid his grievances before the king, whose royal 
temper was ruffled by the rough treatment his officer had 
received. He refused to listen to any statement from the 
Virginians as to Harvey's numerous misdeeds and offences, 
and ordered them to receive him again as their governor and 
to obey him accordingly; and, much against their will, they 
were forced to submit to vSir John's authority for a time, 
at least. 

Religious Intolerance. — I am sorry to have to record that 
these early Virginians, who were so opposed to tyranny in 
their rulers, did not themselves show that spirit of kindness 
and forbearance for the rights and opinions of others which 
they should have manifested, and this was especially the case 
in all questions appertaining to religion. The precepts our 
Saviour taught of the duty of Christians toward one another 
have not always been followed by those who bear his name, 
and, though we do not in these days bum people at the stake, 
nor cut off their heads because they do not believe as we do 
and worship in the same church, it is to be feared we some- 



OF Virginia and Virginians 71 

times say very unkind things to one another because of 
differences of rehgious beHef. And so, perhaps, we should 
not too hastily condemn these ancestors of ours unless we 
are prepared to set a much better example than they did. 

The Established Church. — The Episcopal Church was the 
church of England in those days as it is now, and it was, 
therefore, the established religion in Virginia. But all the 
people who had come into the colony in the thirty years or 
more of its existence did not belong to this church. There 
were Catholics and Dissenters, or Non-conformists, and after 
a while Baptists and Quakers as well, and against all these 
the power of the law was to be used. 

Religious Proscription. — Virginia would have none of 
them, and they were speedily ordered to join the established 
church or leave the colony. They were forbidden to hold 
any services, either privately or publicly, and were fined, 
imprisoned and whipped. The Baptists especially were 
maltreated, because they did not believe that young children 
should be baptized. This difference of belief was a terrible 
sin in the eyes of the colonists, and was punished accordingly. 

Loss to the Colony. — The result was that all these honest, 
law-abiding citizens, whose services would have been helpful 
to the colony, were driven out, some to Puritan New England 
and some to Catholic Maryland. The New Englanders were 
quite as ready as the Virginians to persecute those who did 
not belong to their church, but the Marylanders gave a home 
and religious toleration to all who professed to believe in 
Jesus Christ, and this Catholic colony became a place of refuge 
for the oppressed of every denomination. 

Lord Baltimore. — For many years fierce and bitter disa- 
greements had been in progress in England between the Roman 
Catholics and Protestants, and just at this time the former 
were being worsted in the struggle; and so it happened 
that in 1630 Sir George Calvert, Lord Baltimore, a Catholic 



72 



Young People's History 



noble of high standing, came to Virginia in search of a place 
of refuge for those of his own faith. He first went to James- 
town, where he was treated with scant courtesy, which is not 
surprising in view of the fact that he announced his intention 
of securing a part of Virginia and founding a new colony. 
He was ordered to take the oath acknowledging the 
Church of England, which he refused to do; and, after 
a stormy scene, he went 
his way to make a voyage 
of exploration up 




SETTLEMENT OF M\R\LA.ND 



Maryland Settled.— He found the land so much to his 
liking that he returned to England and requested a grant 
from the king for the establishment of a colony, and was 
given what now constitutes the State of Maryland, to which 
he invited all loyal subjects of the king, without distinction 
of sect or party. He died before his plans matured, and his 
son succeeded to his titles and privileges. In 1634 the first 



OF Virginia and Virginians 73 

settlement was made at St. Mary's, and it was named Mary- 
land in honor of Queen Mary, or Henrietta Maria, wife of 
Charles I. 

Opposition in Virginia to the Grant. — There was great 
excitement in Virginia when this was known, for, according 
to its charter, the land given to Lord Baltimore was a part of 
the Virginia colony ; but the people were powerless to oppose 
the acts of the king. So Lord Baltimore entered in and 
took possession of the land. 

William Claiborne. — The feeling against him was none 
the less bitter because it could not be expressed, and at last 
one man stepped forward to represent the popular opinion 
in the matter. This was William Claiborne, a member of 
the king's council in Virginia, and secretary of the colony. 
He had been given by the king the grant of Kent Island, 
in the Chesapeake Bay, opposite the present city of Annapolis. 
T>ord Baltimore considered that the island was a part of 
Maryland, and ordered Claiborne to vacate it. The latter 
replied that it was a part of Virginia, deeded to him by the 
king's own hand, and he would not stir a foot. 

Claiborne Driven Out, Appeals to the King. — In the end, 
however, he was overpowered and driven from his possessions 
and had to fly to Jamestown for safety. From that place 
he went to England to lay his complaints before the king, 
and pleaded his own cause with such earnestness that Charles 
ordered Calvert not to interfere with him further. 

The Conflict Renewed. — Calvert does not seem to have 
regarded these royal commands, and Claiborne at length 
mustered a company of restless spirits, and, marching into 
Maryland, drove Calvert from the colony and seized the 
government; but his triumph was only temporary, for Calvert 
returned and Claiborne was again obliged to flee at the peril 
of his life. 

Sir William Berkeley, Governor.— In 1642 Sir William 



74 



Young People's History 



Berkeley was sent as governor to Virginia. His term of 
office was a 'long one, and he himself was a person worthy 
of more than a passing glance. He had all the charm and 
grace of manner of the accomplished cavalier and courtier. 
He was full of enthusiasm for his new office and for the people 
in Virginia, and desired, he said, only to do what was for their 
good. He was gracious and generous and given to hospitality. 
But under the smiling manner lay an inflexible will, and be- 
neath all the charming courtesy a tyrannical spirit which 
would brook interference from no man. He was besides an 
ardent royalist and a bigoted member of the Church of 
England. 

His Intolerance. — One of his first acts was to notify the 
Puritans that they must either recant their errors or leave 
the colony, and he proceeded to enforce the laws against 
them with great vigor. The writers of that day have drawn 
a pathetic picture of the sad procession of stern-faced men, 
and patient women, and helpless children that set out from 
Virginia to seek some spot where they might worship God 
as their own consciences dictated. 

Indian Massacre of 1644. — About this time the hatred 
which had been sullenly smouldering in the breast of Opecan- 
canough for so long a time burst forth again. He was old 
and stricken in years, and so feeble that his warriors bore 
him on a litter; but his fierce spirit was unbroken, and he 
was resolved once more to strike a blow at the enemies of 
his people. As before, the settlers were utterly unprepared 
for the attack, and 350 of them were massacred. But his 
triumph was of short duration. Opecancanough was taken 
prisoner and carried to Jamestown, where he died of wounds 
inflicted by one of his guards. This was the last effort of 
the Indians for supremacy within the colony, though they 
still continued to harass the borders, where the settlers, 
living alone and at long distances from each other, were an 
easy prey to their violence. 



OF Virginia and Virginians 75 

QUESTIONS 

1. Who was Sir John Harvey, and what can yoti tell of him? 

2. What church was established in Virginia? 

3. What other denominations were there in Virginia? 

4. How did the law treat these? 

5. How did this affect the colony? 

6. Where did they go? 

7. How were they received in New England? 

8. How in Maryland? 

9. Who was Lord Baltimore? 

10. Where did he first go, and how was he received? 

11. Tell abovit the settlement of Maryland. 

12. To whom did the land belong? 

13. W'ho was Claiborne? 

14. How did the trouble arise between him and Calvert? 

15. Tell the result. 

16. When did Sir Williain Berkeley become governor? 

17. Give some account of him. 

18. What was one of his first acts? 

19. Tell about the Indian massacre of 1044. 



y6 Young People's History 

SYNOPSIS FOR REVIEW 



Chapter VII— Delaware's Government. 
Vice-regal Ceremonies. 
His Return to England. 
His Vigorous Measures. 
Sir Thomas Dale. 
Capture of Pocahontas. 
Anger of Powhatan. 
Mr. John Rolfe. 
Baptism and Marriage of Pocahontas — Her Visit to 

England. 
Her Meeting with Smith. 
Death of Pocahontas. 
Tobacco. 

Abdication and Death of Powhatan. 
Dale's Iron Government. 
Regulation of Labor. 
Land Assigned to Colonists. 
Effects of this Measure. 
Chapter VIII— Dale's Return to England. 
George Yeardley. 
Argall's Dishonestv. 

Yeardlev Again Governor — First Colonial Assembly. 
The Great Charter. 
Providing Wives for the Colonists. 
A Cargo of Maidens. 
Marrying and Giving in Marriage. 
Negroes Imported. 

Slavery. ' 

Bondservants. 
Convicts. 

Effects of Slavery. 
Prosperity of the Colony. 
Massacre of 1G22. 

Dissolution of the London Company. 
Chapter IX — Sir John Harvey Deposed. 
Charles I Takes His Part. 
Religious Intolerance. 
The Established Church. 
Religious Proscription. 
Loss to the Colony. 
Lord Baltimore. 
Maryland Settled. 

Opposition of Virginia to the Grant. 
William Claiborne. 

Claiborne Driven Out — Appeals to the King. 
The Conflict Renewed. 
Sir William Berkeley, Governor. 
His Intolerance. 
Indian Massacre of 1C44. 



OF Virginia and Virginians 77 



CHAPTER X 

THE CIVIL WAR IN ENGLAND LOYALTY OF VIRGINIA YIELDS TO CROM- 
WELL THE RESTORATION. 

The King and the Parliament.^ — A struggle of another 
kind was now progressing in England, and the colonists 
watched with anxious eyes the bitter conflict in the mother 
country between the king and his Parliament. 

Loyal Virginia. — The Virginians were loyal to the former, 
and, with their courtly governor at their head, made ready 
to openly express their sympathy, and prepared to fight till 
the last for the House of Stuart. And when the end came 
with the triumph of the Parliament, and Charles I atoned 
for all his errors on the block, there was sincere sorrow in 
many a heart and home in the colony. 

Coming of the Cavaliers. — After the execution of King 
Charles I there was but little peace or safety in England for 
the cavaliers, as his followers were called, and they flocked to 
Virginia where a hearty welcome met them on every hand. 

Resolutions of the Burgesses. — ^The Burgesses at their 
first meeting after the king's execution expressed the senti- 
ments of the people at large when they denounced the exe- 
cution of the king and pronounced sentence against all who 
approved or upheld it. 

Charles II Invited to Virginia. — Charles, afterward the 
Second, then a homeless wanderer living in exile, was invited 
to seek refuge with his faithful and loyal subjects in Virginia, 
and, though he did not accept it, the invitation which was 
conveyed to him was none the less sincere. 

Attitude of the Other Colonies. — In this act of defiance 
toward Parliament, Virginia was not encouraged nor sup- 



78 Young People's History 

ported by the other colonies. New England was Puritan 
to the core. The Dutch did not care who reigned in England, 
while Maryland thought discretion the better part of valor, 
and speedily bowed to the will of Cromwell, who was at the 
head of the English Commonwealth. 

Action of Cromwell. — Cromwell was not a man to brook 
insubordination in any direction, and an embargo was forth- 
with laid upon the trade of the colony of Virginia, and two 
armed vessels were sent to bring the people of Virginia to a 
better frame of mind. 

Submission of the Colony. — Governor Berkeley organized 
a force to meet and resist them, but on their arrival a long 
consultation was held, and it was decided that the colony 
was not strong enough to contend against the power of the 
mother country, and Virginia surrendered, though not until 
it was agreed that the "people of Virginia" should have all 
the liberties of the freeborn people of England; that their 
business should be transacted through their own grand assem- 
bly, and they should have "as free trade as the people of 
England." No taxes or customs were to be levied except 
by their own representatives, and no forts erected or garrisons 
maintained without their consent. The sentiment of loyalty 
to the king still remained, and the number of his adherents 
increased with every ship that sailed for Jamestown. 

Richard Bennett, Governor. — Of course such an enthu- 
siastic cavalier as Berkeley had shown himself to be was not 
permitted to remain in office, and he was accordingly sup- 
planted by the Commonwealth's representative, Mr. Richard 
Bennett. He was elected by the House of Burgesses, and 
took the oath of office in April, 1652. 

Green Spring.— Berkeley, meanwhile, retired to a plan- 
tation which he owned at Green Spring, about two miles 
from Jamestown, and there kept open house for all those 
poverty-stricken royalists who cared to accept his hospi- 



OF Virginia and Virginians 79 

tality, while they waited and hoped for the day when the 
king should enjoy his own again. 

Claiborne's Short-Lived Triumph. — Meanwhile, serious 
trouble was brewing in Maryland. It was the old quarrel 
between Claiborne and Calvert come to life once more, and 
this time Claiborne had on his side all the power of the Puritan 
government, with Cromwell at its head. He temporarily 
triumphed, but from that time on Maryland was rent with 
warring factions until, worn out with civil strife, her repre- 
sentatives, on the 12th of March, 1660, convened and voted 
themselves a lawful assembly, independent of any other 
authority in the province. 

The Restoration. — In May, 1660, Charles II returned 
to England and was crowned king. All his loyal subjects 
gave thanks, and many who had pined in exile hastened home 
to secure a share of the good times that were coming. 

The News in Virginia. — In Virginia the news of the restora- 
tion was received with great rejoicing. On the death of 
Governor Matthews, there being then no governor in Virginia 
and no ruler in England, the House of Burgesses had assem- 
bled in March, 1660,^ and enacted a law declaring the supreme 
power in the government of the colony to reside in the 
assembly, and directing "all writs to issue in its name until 
there should arrive from England a commission which the 
assembly itself shall adjudge to be lawful." Sir William 
Berkeley, who had acknowledged the validity of the acts 
of the House of Burgesses and expressly agreed not to dis- 
solve that body in any event, was elected governor. 

Progress of Virginia. — The population of Virginia now 
numbered forty thousand souls, of which two thousand 
were negroes. The larger proportion of these had been 
born in the colony. There were wealth and prosperity and 
preachers and churches, but as yet there were no public 
schools. 



8o Young People's History 

Berkeley on Free Schools and the Printmg Press. — The 

governor openly expressed his thankfulness that there were 
no free schools in Virginia, and hoped that there would be 
neither schools nor printing press for a hundred 3^ears to 
come. From this we may see that he was not a man of broad 
views nor enlightened opinions. 

Navigation Act. — But serious matters were soon to engage 
the attention of the colony. From the time of its earliest 
settlement the one demand of the king of England, whoever 
he might be, was for gold. The colonists had failed to dig 
this out of the ground, as was expected, but they were none 
the less forced to provide it by another method. Tobacco, 
the staple product of the colony, commanded a high price 
in England, and, as the Virginians could not send the gold, 
they were commanded to send the tobacco, which could be 
sold for it. But this was not all. The colonists were abso- 
lutely forbidden to trade or have dealings with any other 
country than England. The English merchant bought their 
crops, paying them what he chose, and the English merchant 
sold the colonists goods at his own prices. Besides this, 
the king himself must have a share in the profits for his own 
purse, and so heavy duties were laid upon all that went out 
of and all that came into the colony. The result was that 
it soon became difficult for the planter to provide for the 
wants of himself and his family. The English merchant 
grew richer and the Virginia planter poorer every day. 

Virginia Protests. — The Virginians appealed and pro- 
tested in vain, and they were soon to receive a new evidence 
of the selfishness and indifference of the monarch who was 
called King of England, Scotland, France, Ireland, and 
Virginia. 

Royal Grants. — When Charles II came back to his native 
land and his father's throne after his long exile, he found a 
throng of faithful and loyal subjects, who told him they had 



OF Virginia and Virginians 8i 

suffered many hardships and sustained great losses for his 
sake, and asked to be rewarded for their devotion. The 
easiest way for him to do this was to take what belonged 
to his other subjects, who had not been loyal, and give it 
to those who had. But even when he had done this there 
was not enough to go around, so he turned his attention to his 
rich province of Virginia, where there was land enough and 
to spare for everybody, and he forthwith proceeded to give 
that away. It is true that much of this land was already 
owned by men who were living on it and had cultivated it 
and paid taxes on it ; but this made little difference to the 
careless, idle, pleasure-loving young man who was now king 
of England, and he bestowed the Nortliem Neck, the territory 
lying between the Rappahannock and Potomac rivers, on 
some of 'his worthless favorites as recklessly as if it were an 
acre of barren soil. Truly the Virginians had cause to feel 
that their loyalty to the king was costing them a good deal. 
Virginia's Protests Disregarded. — Of course, they pro- 
tested and sent commissioners to England to lay their griev- 
ances before Charles and to appeal for their rights. In 
his usual careless fashion he consented to hear them, but he 
did not bother himself much about the matter ; and the ques- 
tion was still unsettled when a new cause for anxiety arose 
in the colony. The Indians had gone on the warpath and 
were robbing and murdering the settlers on the border. 

QUESTIONS 

1. Whdt war was going on in England about this time? 

2. Whom did the Virginians favor? 

3. How did it end? 

4. How did this affect the colony? 

5. What action was taken by the Burgesses? 
G. Who was invited to Virginia? 

7. What was the feeling of the other colonies? 

8. What steps were taken against Virginia, and what was the re- 
sult? 

9. Who was made Governor? 

10. When? 

11. What became of Berkeley? 



82 Young People's History 

12. What trouble occvirred in Marjdand? 

13. When was Charles II restored? 

14. Effect in Virginia. 

15. What had happened there in March? 

16. What was the state of the colony? 

17. What about free schools and the printing press? 

18. What was the Navigation Act? 

19. How did it affect the Virginians, and what did they do? 

20. Tell how Charles II rewarded his followers. 

21. Where is the Northern Neck? 

22. What new cause of anxiety arose in the colony? 



OF Virginia and Virginians ^ 83 



CHAPTER XI 

bacon's rebellion. 



Nathaniel Bacon. — About the year 1672 a young English 
gentleman came over to Virginia who was destined to play 
a very prominent part in the history of the colony. His 
name was Nathaniel Bacon, and he was a cousin to Lord 
Culpeper, then high in favor with the king, to whom, among 
others, the Northern Neck had been given. Bacon had 
been possessed of considerable property, but it seems that 
he had wasted or so mismanaged it that he was not a rich 
man when he settled at Curl's Neck on James River. 

Bacon's Character. — He was undoubtedly a clever man 
of recognized ability and strong character. Young as he 
was, he was a member of the council — a high honor for one 
of his years. He was at this time living quietly at his home 
attending to his own affairs, but, like every intelligent Vir- 
ginian of that day, interested and anxious for the welfare 
of the colony. 

Condition of the Period. — Just then there was much to 
make men apprehensive and thoughtful. The Indians 
were restless and threatening to renew hostilities at home, 
while in England the king was busy trying to devise new- 
methods of extorting more money from Virginia to be wasted 
on his own pleasure or given away to the idle, vicious crowd 
of young noblemen about him. In those days men had 
more time for quiet, earnest thought than they have now. 
There were no newspapers and but few books. They had 
few amusements save such as the woods and the streams 
afforded. They were not crowded together in cities or even 
thickly settled in the country neighborhoods. Jamestown 
itself only numbered a dozen or more houses, and the homes 



84 Young People's History 

of the planters were far apart, the only means of comiriunica- 
tion being on horseback or by boats. So these Virginians, 
busy with their own affairs and meeting only at intervals 
at church, at the courts, or at a horse race, had ample leisure 
to form their opinions on all public questions, and their 
views were generally openly and decidedly expressed. 

Indian Hostilities— Bacon Chosen Leader. — Nathaniel 
Bacon was popular with his friends and neighbors, and when 
the news came that the Indians were renewing their hostilities, 
he was asked to take command of a small company, which 
mustered immediately to go to the rescue of the outlying 
settlements. It happened that the attack had been made 
upon Bacon's own plantation and his overseer killed at 
Bacon's Quarter Branch, near where the Richmond Loco- 
motive Works now stand, and he was naturally the more 
interested in the matter. 

Applies for a Commission. — He therefore accepted the 
command of his comrades, and nothing now remained to be 
done save to obtain the governor's permission to set out ; 
and so a messenger was sent asking him for a commission. 

Berkeley's Hesitation. — Berkeley did not, of course, wish 
the depredations of the Indians to go unpunished, but, on 
the other hand, he did not wish Bacon to have command 
of the expedition against them. The governor knew that 
the people were already dissatisfied and discontented. They 
had already invited him to become their governor, and now 
they might just as readily invite him to retire from that 
office and put in his place a younger man more in sympathy 
with themselves and less willing to oblige the king in all 
things than he had shown himself to be. So he hesitated 
and delayed his reply, and in the end did not send the com- 
mission requested for Bacon. When the messenger returned 
■without the desired paper the company waiting for it were 
very indignant. 



OF Virginia and Virginians 85 

Bacon Goes Without the Governor's Permission. — The 

outrages of the Indians were continuing, their friends were 
being murdered and their property destroyed, and the gover- 
nor would not allow them to act. They took counsel to- 
gether, and decided to go without the permission of the 
governor; and, as the old writers tell us, signed a "round 
robbin" to stand by one another come what might, and then 
rode forth and defeated the savages. 

Arrest of Bacon. — When the news of what they had done 
reached Governor Berkeley, he was greatly incensed and 
ordered the arrest of Bacon and of his companions. This was 
accomplished forthwith, and they were brought to Jamestown 
as prisoners. 

Required to Ask Pardon. — Here Bacon was told that if 
he would publicly confess that he had done wrong in acting 
without the governor's permission he would be pardoned, 
as well as all who were concerned with him. It was a hard 
and bitter humiliation for him, but he finally consented, 
perhaps as much for his friends' sake as his own. 

Complies and Resumes His Seat in the Council. — But 

he made one stipulation. He would not consent to ask 
pardon of the governor personally. He would only do so 
to the House of Burgesses, who Were nearly all his friends 
and in sympathy with him. And this he accordingly did. 
He was at last permitted to take his old seat in the council, 
was promised his commission as general, and the whole 
matter seemed peacefully settled to the great satisfaction 
of every one. 

Duplicity of Berkeley.— But the trouble was not yet 
ended. Berkeley had really no intention of giving Bacon 
the authority he desired, or even of giving him his freedom. 
While making all these fair promises, he was secretly arrang- 
ing to have him arrested again. 

Flight of Bacon and His Return. — Bacon learning this. 



86 



Young People's History 



fled in the night from Jamestown, and set about rallying 
his friends for armed resistance against the governor. In 
a short time he was back in Jamestown with 500 men behind 
him. He marched to the Statehouse, where the Burgesses 
and the Council, with Berkeley at their head, were sitting. 
Berkeley Refuses the Commission. — The fiery old gov- 










«^S*..4^/-^>^;Kci 



'A FAIR MARK, SHOOT! 



ernor rose from his chair of state, came down to where 
Bacon stood surrounded by his followers, and told him openly 
that he was a traitor and a rebel and should have no com- 
mission; throwing wide his coat, he added in a wrathful tone, 
"A fair mark — shoot!" 

Bacon's Reply. — "Sir," Bacon said in reply, "we came 
here for a commission against the heathen who daily murder 
us and spill our brethren's blood, and not to fight you. My 
sword shall rust in its scabbard before ever a hair of your 
head is touched." 



OF Virginia and Virginians 87 

Berkeley Yields. — In the end Bacon entered the State- 
house, and, appearing before the Burgesses, demanded his 
commission as general, which was finally given him, endorsed 
by the governor. The resolute young man straightway 
went back with his friends to the head of York River and set 
about the work of reducing the Indians to order. 

Bacon Proclaimed a Rebel. — Here the news reached him 
that the governor had retracted his action, and had again 
proclaimed Bacon and his friends rebels and traitors. The 
news was brought to him by two friends, Mr. Drummond and 
Mr. Lawrence, both men of high standing in the colony. 

Bacon Marches on Jamestown. — Bacon called his men 
together and laid the matter before them. His own wish 
was that they should forthwith seek the governor and de- 
mand by what right he continued to accuse and misrepresent 
them and their intentions. To this they all agreed, and so, 
unhappily, the men who were going to fight the Indians 
turned their arms upon the governor and those who sup- 
ported him. A proclamation was issued calling on the 
people to sustain them, and preparations were made to march 
against the governor and his forces. 

QUESTIONS 

1. Who was Nathaniel Bacon? 

2. Where had he settled? 

3. What was his character and position? 

4. What was the condition of the period? 

5. How did the Virginians live? 

G. What caused Bacon to ask for a commission? 

7. What did Berkeley do? Why? 

8. What did Bacon and his friends do? 

9. What did they sign, and with what result? 

10. What was Bacon required to do? 

11. Was the trouble over? Why not? 

12. Tell what Bacon did then. 

13. Tell of the interview between Bacon and Berkeley. 

14. How did it end? 

15. What action did Bacon take? 



88 Young People's History 



CHAPTER XII 

bacon's rebellion, continued DEATH OF CHARLES II KING JAMES 

II WILLIAM AND MARY. 

Berkeley Collects an Army. — Meanwhile the governor 
had not been idle. Gathering together "Such men as he could 
command, in all about a thousand, he had set out for James- 
town, of which he was not to be permitted to take immediate 
possession. The place was in charge of Mr. Drummond and 
Mr. Lawrence, and contained also eight or nine hundred men, 
under command of Colonel Hansford, one of Bacon's ablest 
officers. 

Takes Possession of Jamestown. — Berkeley promised 
amnesty to all friends of Bacon in the town, save Druminond 
and Lawrence, if they would surrender. Hansford, after 
giving these two gentlemen time to escape, surrendered 
the town to the governor, who immediately set about pre- 
paring for Bacon's arrival, which he foresaw would not be 
long delayed. 

Bacon Besieges Jamestown. — Nor did Bacon disappoint 
him, for he shortly appeared before Jamestown with a com- 
pany of several hundred men and sat down to lay siege to 
the place and starve the governor out. 

A Blot on Bacon's Fame. — And now we come to the 
greatest blot on Bacon's fame as a brave man and as a gen- 
tleman — the most unworthy act of his career. He sent his 
men through the surrounding country with orders to bring 
to his camp the wives of such gentleman as had sided with 
the governor. One of these ladies he sent into the town 
to notify her husband and those of the others that he meant 
to erect fortifications about the place, and that their wives 
would all be placed in front of his men while they worked, 



OF Virginia and Virginians 89 

and that they would be kept there till all was finished, so 
that if any shots were fired the helpless women would be the 
victims; and this he did. 

Jamestown Captured. — Of course he accomplished what 
he wished, and Jamestown eventually fell into his hands, 
but he forever disgraced his name and memory by this act. 
No brave soldier nor true gentleman ever insults or maltreats 
a woman, however humble her station. In our own great 
War Between the States, where many thousands of men 
were engaged, there is no instance of the soldiers who fought 
under Lee and Johnston and Stonewall Jackson having 
ever insulted or injured a woman or a child. 

The Town Burnt. — Bacon took possession of Jamestown, 
and, after a consultation with his advisers, decided to burn 
it, and Mr. Lawrence and Mr, Drummond, with their own 
hands, set fire to their homes. And so the old town, where 
John Smith had labored and suffered, and Pocahontas had 
come and gone, which had seen so much of sorrow and hap- 
piness, too, was left a heap of dust and ashes. It was a 
useless and foolish act. 

Death of Bacon. — Bacon himself was soon to pay the 
penalty for his rashness. While he and his men had been 
camped about Jamestown, they had been exposed to the same 
unhealthful influences which had attacked the early settlers. 
He was now stricken down with fever, and died so suddenly 
that his friends insisted that he had been poisoned, but 
there is no proof of this. 

Berkeley's Malignity. — There is no doubt, however, that 
the governor much desired to get possession of his body 
that it might be hung on a gibbet, and to prevent this his 
followers carefully concealed it. Some writers tell us it 
was weighted with stone and sunk in the river, and others 
that it was buried in the depths of the forest. Wherever 
the spot, the secret of his last resting place remains unknown 
to this dav. 



po . Young People's History 

Dispersion of Bacon's Followers.— Their leader being 
dead, Bacon's followers were anxious to return peacefully 
to their homes once more, but this was not to be. They 
still had Sir William Berkeley to reckon with, and they 
found him a man who knew not justice nor mercy. 

Berkeley's Butcheries— Hansford. — Colonel Hansford, who 
had commanded at Jamestown, was the first victim. Young 
and bright, gay and full of courage, one might have thought 
his enemy's heart would have been softened toward him, but 
such was not the case. His one request was that he might be 
shot like a soldier and not be hanged. "You shall die like a 
rebel," the governor replied, and hanged him accordingly. 
^ Edmund Cheeseman. — Young Edmund Cheeseman was 
next led before him, and was asked why he had allied him- 
self with Bacon. Before he could reply his wife fell on her 
knees before Berkeley, and prayed him to spare her husband's 
life, that it was she who had influenced him to his course. 
"Let me bear the punishment," she pleaded, "and let him 
be pardoned." The answer of the governor was to insult 
her, and her husband was led forth to his death. 

Drummond. — When William Drummond was led in, Sir 
William made him a low bow, and said, "You are very wel- 
come. I am more glad to see you than any man in Virginia. 
You shall be hanged in half an hour." 

Bland. — Giles Bland, who had been captured sometime 
before, and whose friends had interested themselves to obtain 
a pardon from the king, was hanged by the governor with 
the king's pardon in his pocket. 

The King's Comment. — And so the work went on and 
men were hurried to the scaffold with scarcely a pretence 
of a trial. In ten days twenty-two had been executed and 
three had died of cruel treatment in prison. When Charles 
heard the news in England he said: "That old fool has taken 
away more lives in that naked country than I have for the 
murder of my father"; which was the truth. 



OF Virginia and Virginians 91 

The King's Proclamation— Vote of the Burgesses.— The 

king immediately issued a proclamation condemning Berke- 
ley's conduct as contrary to his wishes and commands. The 
House of Burgesses met and voted that the "governor spill 
no more blood," and orders came from England that he 
should resign his office. This he at first refused to do, but 
finally he was forced to yield. He returned to England, 
where he died shortly after. There was general rejoicing 
over his departure and guns were, fired and bonfires kindled 
to express the joy of the people at his going. 

Effect of the Rebellion. — The effect of Bacon's rebellion 
was not a happy one for the colon3^ Much blood had been 
spilt and much evil wrought, and the colony was to suffer 
for it in the future. The conflict is justly regarded b}^ his- 
torians as one of the most important events in the progress 
of Virginia. Short as it was, it afforded strong evidence 
of the temper and feeling of the Virginians. It was not 
merely a struggle between an old governor and a young 
planter. The Virginians had become dissatisfied with the 
treatment they received and had risen up and fought against 
the king's representative, and now they must settle for it 
and pay the penalty of their acts ; but a hundred years later 
the same spirit was to be displayed, ending in the Revolu- 
tion and the separation of the colonies from the mother 
country. The king sent his royal commissioners to Vir- 
ginia to investigate the state of affairs there. Nearly all 
of Bacon's laws were repealed and more rigid ones for the 
government of the colony were passed, but the justice of 
Bacon's demands was shown by the subsequent reenactment 
of similar laws. 

Royal Governors. — One royal governor after another 
came and went. Among them was Lord Culpeper, who valued 
his office only for the money to be got out of it, and who 
finally became so grasping and tyrannical that the Virginia 
Council besought the king to recall him, which was finally 



92 Young People's History 

done. But his successor, Lord Effingham, proved httle 
better. 

James II. — In 1685 Charles died, and his brother, James 
II, succeeded him on the throne of England. The Virginians 
took heart again, and hoped for better days, but the first 
act of the new king was to express his disapproval of their 
conduct and to notify them that they must do better in 
future. 

Revolution of 1688 — ^King William and Queen Mary. — 
But James soon had rebellious subjects nearer home who 
demanded his attention, and in 1688 he was forced to fly 
from England. William and Mary were crowned and 
reigned there in his stead. 

QUESTIONS 

1. Tell what Berkeley was doing. 

2. What blot is there on Bacon's fame? 

3. Tell abotit the capture and destruction of Jamestown. 

4. Tell of the death and burial of Bacon. 

5. What of Bacon's followers? 

G. Tell of Hansford, Cheeseman, Drummond and Bland. 

7. What did the King say when he heard the news? 

S. What put a stop to Berkeley's butcheries? 

9. What became of Berkeley? 

10. How did the rebellion affect the colony? 

11. What was the general character of the royal governors? 

12. Who succeeded Charles II, and when? 
1.'3. How long did he reign? 

14. Who succeeded him? 



OF Virginia and Virginians 93 

SYNOPSIS FOR REVIEW 



Chapter X — The King and the ParHament— Loyal Virginia. 

Coming of the Cavaliers. 

Resolutions of the Burgesses. 

Charles II Invited to Virginia. 

Attitude of the Other Colonies. 

Action of Cromwell. 

Submission of the Colony. 

Richard Bennett, Governor. 

Green Spring. 

Claiborne's Short-lived Triumph. 

The Restoration. 

The News in Virginia — Progress of Virginia. 

Berkeley on Free Schools and the Printing Press. 

Navigation Act. 

Virginia Protests. 

Royal Grants. 
Chapter XI^ — Nathaniel Bacon — Bacon's Character. 

Condition of the Period. 

Indian Hostilities — Bacon Chosen Leader. 

Applies for a Commission. 

Berkeley's Hesitation. 

Bacon Goes Without It — Arrest of Bacon. 

Required to ask Pardon. 

Complies and Resumes His Seat in the Council. 

Duplicity of Berkeley. 

Flight of Bacon and His Return. 

Berkeley Refuses the Commission. 

Bacon's Reply. 

Berkeley Yields. 

Bacon Proclaimed a Rebel — Bacon Marches on James- 
town. 
Chapter XII — Berkeley Collects an Army. 

Takes Possession of Jamestown. 

Bacon Besieges Jamestown. 

A Blot on Bacon's Fame. 

Jamestown Captured. 

The Town Burnt. 

Death of Bacon. 

Berkelej^'s MaHgnity. 

Dispersion of Bacon's Followers. 

Berkeley's Butcheries — Hansford — Edmund Cheese- 
man. 

Drummond — Giles Bland. 

The King's Comment — The King's Proclamation. 

Vote of the Burgesses. 

Effect of the Rebellion. 

Royal Governors. 

James II. 

"Revolution of 1GS8 — King William and Queen Mary. 



94 YouKG People's History 



CHAPTER XIII 

GROWTH OF THE COLONY WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE QUEEN 

ANNE GOVERNOR SPOTSWOOD COLONEL BYRD THE HUGUENOTS 

THE SCOTCH-IRISH. 

The Close of the Century. — The last years of the seven- 
teenth century were passing rapidly away, and the time 
was close at hand which was to bring many changes to Vir- 
ginia. The colony had become a plantation and the planta- 
tion a Commonwealth, and, though still controlled by a gover- 
nor, and a king as well, the Virginians were for a time, at least, 
to enjoy prosperity and to advance in more than one direction. 

William and Mary College. — The first event of impor- 
tance was the founding of William and Mary College, in 
1693, which is, after Harvard, the oldest seat of learning in 
America. For this famous school we are indebted to Mr. 
James Blair, a clergyman, who had the welfare of the Com- 
monwealth and the education of its young men so earnestly at 
heart that he did not rest until he had induced the Burgesses 
to give him authority to go to England and secure money 
and a charter from the king and queen for a college. After 
many delays and disappointments he finally secured the 
necessary funds and returned to Williamsburg to inaugurate 
the good work. This town became the capital, in 1698, 
because of the destruction of Jamestown by Bacon and the 
desire to secure a more healthful location. 

Sir Christopher Wren. — The plans for the college building 
were made by Sir Christopher Wren, one of the most famous 
English architects and- designers. The great cathedral of 
St. Paul's, in London, was built by Wren, who is still held 
to have been one of the greatest architects of the world. 

The College Destroyed.— The edifice which Wren de- 




[ 95] 



96 



Young People's History 




signed at Williamsburg was burned in 1705, and was restorea 
only to be destroyed again and again ; l)ut each time its walls 
have been raised anew and its good work continues to this 
day. Many Virginians who have won fame and distinction 
within and without the State have been students in the old 
college of which James Blair laid the foundation-stone over 

two hundred 3^ears ago. 

"Good Queen Anne." — 
In 1702 Queen Anne as- 
cended the English throne. 
She is remembered in his- 
tory as "Good Queen 
Anne," and the Virginians 
had reason to endorse her 
claim to this title. Her 
name has been given to 
two c o u n t i e s — Princess 
Anne and Fluvanna, and 
to five of our streams — the North Anna, South Anna, Flu- 
vanna, Rivanna, and Rapidan rivers. She interested herself 
in the welfare of the churches of Virginia, and more than 
once sent gifts to them. The bell of Bruton church, at 
Williamsburg, which still calls its worship- 
pers to prayer, and the communion service 
as well, which is yet carefully preserved 
there, were given to the parish by Queen 
Anne. 

Governor Spotswood. — In 17 10 Alex- 
ander Spotswood came as governor to 
Virginia, where he was destined to remain 
for the rest of his life. For twelve years 
he wisely and faithfully watched over the 
interests of the people, whose welfare he had at heart. Many 
new enterprises for their good were inaugurated by him. 
His Enterprises. — He established furnaces for the manu- 



COMMUNION SERVICE GIVEN 
QUEEN ANNE 




ALEX SPOTSWOOD 



OF Virginia and Virginians 



97 



facture of iron, and encouraged the planting of vineyards 
and the cultivation of the grape. Having been appointed 



1 t 







WILLIAMSBURG 



postmaster-general for the colonies he established the first 
post offices, and mails were carried between Williamsburg 
and Philadelphia in eight or ten days. Spotswood appointed 



98 Young People's History 

a very well known American, Benjamin Franklin, postmaster 
for the province of Pennsylvania. 

Indian School. — Out of his own private means Governor 
Spotswood equipped and supported a school for the education 
and conversion of the Indians; and thither he often went, 
riding through the woods on horseback, to watch over the 
welfare and progress of the young Indian students. 

Expedition to the Valley. — In August, 17 16, he set out 

from Chelsea, the home of his son-in-law, Austin Moore, on 
the Mattaponi River, upon the famous expedition with 
which his name has been associated, toward the Blue Ridge 
Mountains. It was a gay and gallant company that jour- 
neyed with him, with a train of pack horses and a retinue 
of servants They went at their leisure, hunting and fishing 
by day and camping by night; and when the highest point 
of the beautiful range of mountains was reached they saw 
at their feet, stretching miles away toward the horizon, the 
great valley of the Shenandoah, often called "the granary 
of Virginia." 

The Knights of the Golden Horseshoe. — In commemora- 
tion of this daring expedition into the heart of what was 
then a savage wilderness, the governor presented each of 
his friends who accompanied him with a small golden horse- 
shoe, set with jewels, and this was the origin of the "Knights 
of the Golden Horseshoe." 

Blackbeard. — But Sir Alexander Spotswood did not always 
pass his time in such pleasant holiday fashion as this, for 
he was a brave soldier as well as a courtly and gracious 
nobleman. When he learned that the infamous pirate and 
ruffian, John Theach, called "Blackbeard," was cruising 
along the coast of Virginia and North Carolina, plundering 
and murdering as he sailed, he took prompt measures with 
him. 

Death of Blackbeard. — Two ships were manned by Vir- 



OF Virginia and Virginians 



99 



ginians, under command of Lieutenant Maynard, and sent 
in pursuit of "Blackbeard." Having overtaken the pirate 
in Pamlico Sound, on the coast of North CaroHna, they 
boarded his vessel and killed him in a hand-to-hand fight. 
Thirteen of his men were hanged at Williamsburg and an 
end made of their depredations forever. Benjamin Franklin, 
then a printer's apprentice in Boston, wrote a ballad about 
the battle between 
Lieutenant M a y- 
nard and "Black- 
beard," which he 
sold on the streets 
of that old town. 

Colonel William 
Byrd's Visit to 
Germanna. — For 

many of the de- 
tails relating to tlir 
life of Governor 
Spots wood we arc 
indebted to his 
friend. Colonel 
WilHam Byrd, of 
W e s t o V e r , on 
James River. He 
paid a visit to the 
governor at his 
beautiful home at 
Germanna Ford, 
on the Rapidan River, where he lived most happily with his 
wife and children, to whom he was tenderly devoted, and 
where Lady Spotswood welcomed Colonel Byrd with much 
hospitality. One day while they were conversing in the 
drawing-room, a tame deer wandered in through the open 
door, and catching a ^ipk^e of his own reflection in a large 




COLONEL WILLIAM BYRD, 
THE FOUNDER OF RICHMOND 



loo Young People's History 

mirror, dashed at it, shivering the glass, and in his fright 
overturning a table loaded with valuable china as well. 
We are told that Lady Spotswood bore the loss with good 
temper and patience as a gentlewoman should. Colonel Byrd 
gives us many another picture of the happy homelife at 
Germanna. 

Sketch of Byrd. — Byrd was himself a man of great wealth 
and liberal education. He owned the land upon which Rich- 
mond now stands, and himself surveyed and laid out the city. 
He was appointed by the king one of the commissioners to 
survey and mark the boundary line between Virginia and 
North Carolina, and his report of his services there is most 
entertainingly written. 

The Huguenots. — By this time Huguenots had come to 
Virginia, and had made their principal settlement at Manakin 
Town, on the upper James, though others were scattered 
through the colony. These were French Protestants who 
were forced to fly from their native land to escape the perse- 
cutions of the King of France because of their religion. 

Their Character. — In their ranks were some of the noblest 
Frenchmen of that day, as well as thousands of honest, 
God-fearing, law-abiding citizens and artisans, skilled in 
every department of labor. It was an evil day for France 
when they were driven from their homes, and it was a for- 
tunate one for Virginia that many of them landed on her 
shores. 

The Scotch-Irish.— New settlers were pouring into the 
colony on every side. In the Valley a large colony of Scotch- 
Irish had settled. Like the Huguenots, they were refugees 
from persecution, having been driven from Ireland by the 
English to dwell after^^ard in harmony with them here, for 
French and German, English, Scotch and Irish alike helped 
to build up the great Commonwealth we love and honor 
to-day. 



OF Virginia and Virginians ioi 

The Origin of the Virginians. — It is very often said, and 
with pride by some, that we Virginians are English people. 
It is true that the little band of adventurers who first landed 
in Virginia were English, but in 300 years many changes 
have been wrought by diversity of climate and other natural 
causes, and by the accessions to our population of other 
nationalities, so that to-day there are perhaps more Vir- 
ginians of Scotch-Irish, German and French descent than of 
English. There is nothing of English left in the Virginian 
of to-day save the pure English language, which we write 
and speak at least as well as the English do. In the light 
of history, it is difificult to discover why any good Virginian 
should be vain of his English ancestry, and it is in bad taste, 
at least, to wear about one's person "coats of arms" or 
"crests" of old English houses, especially when nobody 
knows what they may mean— not even he who wears them. 
Heraldry had its uses in its day, but that is long past, and 
now it is a lost science — not even understood as to its uses 
in its day. 

"The Virginia Gazette" — Methodism. — In 1736 the first 

newspaper, The Virginia Gazette, was published at Williams- 
burg, and four years later Methodism appeared in the State 
through the efforts of the great evangelist, George Whitefield, 
who, with his friend, John Wesley, had come to America to 
preach salvation to all. Wesley went to Georgia, where 
he attracted widespread interest and attention, and White- 
field's eloquence at Williamsburg sowed the seeds of the 
Methodist faith which has endured and grown into one of 
our greatest churches. 

QUESTIONS 

1. What about the colony at the close of the century? 

2. What college was founded, and when? 

3. Who was its projector? 

4. Who the architect? 

5. What other building did he erect? 
G. What is said of the college? 



I02 Young People's History 

7. Who succeeded William and Mary, and when? 

8. What is she called? 

9. How has her name been perpetuated in Virginia? 

10. In what was she interested, and what were some of her gifts? 

1 1. Who became governor of Virginia in 1710? 

12. Mention some of his enterprises. 

13. Tell of the Knights of the Golden Horseshoe. 

14. Who was Blackbeard, and" what can you tell of him? 

15. Where did Governor Spotswood live? 
IG. Who visited him there? 

17. Tell about Byrd. 

IS. Who were the Huguenots? 

19. Why did they leave France? 

20. What kind of people were they? 

21. Who were the Scotch-Iri.sh, and where did they settle? 

22. What people united to btiild up Virginia? 

23. When and where was the first newspaper established? 

24. What great preacher came to Virginia and sowed the seeds 
from which a great denomination has sprung? 

25. What other peoole beside the English settled in Virginia? 



OF Virginia and Virginians 103 



CHAPTER XIV* 

THE CHARACTER OF THE POPULATION— EMPLOYMENTS AND CONDITION 
OF THE PEOPLE IN COLONIAL TIMES 

The First Settlers. — The first colonists were officers and 
servants of the London Company, and were shareholders 
in the enterprise, having bartered their services for a term 
of years in exchange for a share in the profits; and Smith 
complained that too many were gentlemen. Up to the time 
of Sir Thomas Dale the product of their labor constituted a 
common stock, to which all looked for support, and their 
main dependence for food was on the supplies brought from 
England or upon the grain and vegetables obtained from 
the Indians. Dale, as has been elsewhere stated, granted 
to those of the colonists who had been longest in the colony 
and shown themselves most deserving three acres of land, 
which they held as tenants of the company, subject to the 
payment of a small yearly rent and one month's labor for 
the common store. In 16 19, an eventful year in Virginia 
history, the agreement of the company with the first settlers 
was carried out by Yeardley. A certain quantity of land 
was assigned, in fee, to each servant of the company who 
had served the time agreed upon, which proved even a greater 
stimulus to individual industry and energy than the tenant 
system of Dale, and henceforward the colony became self- 
sustaining. Two more classes were thus added to the popu- 
lation — the tenants of the company (or farmers) and the 
landowners. 

Servants. — These two classes soon began to acquire white 
servants, who were known as indentured servants — that is, 

* For many of the statements made in this and the succeeding chapter the author 
is indebted to the admirable work of Philip A. Bruce, "An Economic History of 
Virgfinia in the Seventeenth Century." 



I04 Young People's History 

they were bound by written agreements, called indentures, 
to serve for a specified time — and, as you have seen, in 1619 
twenty negro slaves were imported into the colony. The 
word servant in that day did not imply the same as in ours, 
for it was used of domestic, agricultural and mechanical 
laborers under indentures, of apprentices bound out to learn 
trades, and of those seeking a knowledge of the learned 
professions in a doctor's shop* or lawyer's office; nor did it 
necessarily show that those who were so called were of humble 
origin, though the great body of them came from the laboring 
or industrial or middle class of the mother country, who, to 
escape the hard conditions surrounding them in England, 
were willing to part with their freedom for a term of years 
to reach the new fields which Virginia offered. Some of 
them were persons of education and were employed in clerical 
and other capacities. Poor children were also bound out 
as laborers, or apprentices, and from the time of the Com- 
monwealth political offenders were sent over to be sold for a 
specified time, and on more than one occasion persons con- 
victed of crime under the bloody criminal code of England, 
which then punished 300 offences with death, were, to mitigate 
the rigors of the law, ordered to be transported to the colonies ; 
but this was soon checked by the protests of the Company 
and of the colonists as prejudicial to the good name of the 
settlement, and was finally prohibited by law. • Many of 
these indentured servants at the expiration of their terms 
acquired lands, such a stipulation being contained in some of 
their agreements, and were in after years among the most 
prominent citizens in wealth and position. From 1630 to 
1654 the House of Burgesses contained many members who 
had come into the colony as indentured servants. The 
constant and increasing demand for labor, as well as the 
premium of fifty acres of land given for each person brought 

* The doctors of that day compounded their own medicines and filled their own 
prescriptions. They consequently kept on hand a considerable stock of drugs, and 
the place in which they were kept was called a "shop." 



OF Virginia and Virginians 105 

into the colony, caused this class to increase very rapidly. 
In 1625, the year after the dissolution of the London Com- 
pany, the number of indentured servants was 464, and of 
negro slaves twenty-two. In 167 1 the former had increased 
to 6,000, the latter to 2,000. White female servants were 
almost universally employed as domestics, while the men who 
were not mechanics and artisans, together with the negroes 
of both sexes, were employed in agriculture. Indians taken 
in war could also be held as servants for a limited time, but 
one of Bacon's laws, which was continued, enacted that they 
should become slaves for life, and in 1682 this was extended 
to Indians purchased or brought into the colony from a 
distance by traders. But the number of Indian servants 
does not at any time appear to have been large. 

Overseers. — The introduction of a large number of ser- 
vants and of negro slaves created a demand for the services 
of another class, called overseers. The larger proprietors 
frequently owned tracts of land widely separated from each 
other, to which they could not give their personal attention, 
and had therefore to employ others for that purpose. Some- 
times the management would be entrusted to one of the 
indentured servants, but more frequently freemen or servants 
whose time had expired were employed, and were paid a 
certain share in the crop for their services. The opportunity 
for these overseers to accumulate property was good, and 
their accumulations were often invested in servants whom 
they hired to their employer or to some other planter until 
the head rights thus acquired enabled them to purchase 
land of their own. In this way a very large proportion of 
them became proprietors. Their sons when they grew up 
often adopted the business their fathers had successfully 
followed, and so, to some extent, a new class grew up. 

Free Negroes.- — Before the close of the seventeenth cen- 
tur\^ there were a number of free negroes in the colony, some 
of whom were land owners, but the great body of whom were 



io6 Young People's History 

indentured or hired servants. These, during that century 
and the first quarter of the eighteenth, enjoyed the right of 
suffrage, which was bestowed upon all freemen; but in 1723 
this right was restricted, and free negroes, mulattoes, and 
Indians were excluded from the suffrage. The free negroes, 
though landowners, were always prohibited from employing 
white indentured servants, but could employ Indians or 
persons of their own race. In 1699 a law was passed requir- 
ing every African freeman to leave the colony within six 
months after his emancipation, so that the increase of this 
class was to some extent checked. 

Mechanics. — Mechanics were either indentured or free, 
and, owing to the demand for this class of laborers, impor- 
tant privileges were bestowed on them. They were not 
required to engage in agriculture, as were all other persons, 
and at a later period were exempted from the payment of 
levies except those of the church. There being no metallic 
money in circulation, the payment for their services was 
made in tobacco. The length of time they had to wait for 
their compensation had a discouraging effect and many of 
them preferred engaging in agriculture as affording a more 
regular and substantial support than could be obtained by 
following their trades. 

The Cavaliers.- — During the twelve years succeeding the 
execution of King Charles I, it is estimated that 25,000 of 
the royalist officers and soldiers fled to Virginia. Many of 
these were of the English gentry, who hated or feared the 
government of Cromwell. While some had wealth and rank, 
others were impoverished by the results of the war, or were 
younger sons without estates, but of as good blood as their 
wealthier companions, and from them many Virginia families 
of to-day are descended. These brought with them the 
tastes and habits of the class to which they belonged and 
exerted a potent influence upon the social life of the colony. 

Wealth. — There was little individual wealth in the colonv 



OF Virginia and Virginians 107 

prior to the middle of the seventeenth century. Most of 
the large landed estates grew up after that time and were 
acquired by patents granted for the importation of persons 
into the colony. In the Northern Neck, however, lands 
were obtained either by purchase from the lords' proprie- 
tors or their successors, to whom they were granted by 
Charles II, in 1661, or were acquired under Indian grants, 
though the rights of the Indians generally received scant 
consideration. Many of the large proprietors were also 
merchants, and derived no inconsiderable part of their wealth 
from this source. There were few paupers, and Beverley 
mentions one instance in which a bequest for the benefit 
of the poor in one of the parishes remained untouched for 
nine years because there were none who came within its terms. 

Agriculture. — The chief business of the people was the 
cultivation of the soil. The forests had to be cleared and 
the ground prepared for the planting of the crop. This labor 
was at first performed exclusively by hand, the axe and the 
hoe being the chief implements. Eleven years after the 
settlement there was but one plow in the colony, and the esti- 
mated number was but one hundred and fifty in 1649, when 
the population was 15,000 whites and 300 slaves. 

Products. — The principal products were maize, or Indian 
corn, found here on the discovery of the country, wheat, 
oats, barley, hops, potatoes, turnips, carrots, parsnips, 
onions, Indian peas, and beans. Rice, indigo, fiax, hemp, 
and cotton were also produced, but never became staples, 
except that the latter came to be very generally cultivated 
in quantities sufficient to meet home requirements — a prac- 
tice continued as late as the middle of the nineteenth century. 
Various attempts were made to produce silk and wine, but 
with little success. Apples, peaches, pears, apricots, cher- 
ries, plums, quinces, and other fruits were raised in abundance, 
while strawberries, blackberries, and whortleberries, hazel- 
nuts, hickory nuts, and Indian walnuts grew wild in the fields 



io8 Young People's History 

and forests. Tobacco was, however, the most important 
product of the colony after 1616, and was the principal 
currency and medium of exchange; debts, public and private, 
wages, salaries, and contracts of every kind were made 
payable in tobacco. Metallic money was little used and but 
rarely seen until toward the close of the seventeenth century, 
and was then employed to but a limited extent. The pro- 
duction of tobacco was encouraged and regulated by law, 
and in 1720 the Virginia crop of prime tobacco was reported 
at 58,000 hogsheads; only the best quality was permitted 
to be shipped, the lugs and inferior grades being burned in 
the king's pound. The price fluctuated greatly, and the 
planters complained loudly of the unprofitableness of the 
crop. 

Live Stock. — Hogs and goats -were early imported into 
the colony, and increased rapidly owing to the excellent 
range and abundance of food, but were nearly, if not entirely, 
exterminated during the memorable "Starving Time." 
Under the judicious arrangements of Dale for their' protec- 
tion, the live stock multiplied rapidly, so that at the begin- 
ning of Argall's administration there were eighty-eight goats, 
128 kine, and hogs in great numbers. The depredations of 
Argall greatly reduced the supply, but in 1649 there were 
5,000 goats, a much larger number of swine, both domestic 
and wild, and 20,000 cattle; the horses, however, numbered 
only 200. Toward the close of the century hogs were so 
numerous that frequently the number is not stated in the 
inventories of estates, and the number of wild hogs, wild 
cattle, and wild horses was so great that hunting them afforded 
both amusement and profit. Pork and beef were exported 
to New England and Barbadoes, and cattle to the former; 
and the bacon of Virginia was regarded as equal to that of 
Westphalia. Sheep were not common until toward the close 
of the seventeenth century, the depredations of wolves 
confining them chiefly to the older settlements, though as 



OF ViRGJNIA AND ViRGINIANS 



:o9 



early as 1649 there were 3,000 in the colony. From an early 
period poultry was extensively raised, and formed a principal 
article of diet among all classes. 

QUESTIONS 

1. What was the relation of the first settlers to the Company? 

2. What can you tell of the labor system? 

3. What important change was made by Dale? 

4. By whom, and where were the first lands granted to settlers 
in fee? 

5. What was the effect? 

6. What two classes were added to the population? 

7. What classes of servants were introduced into the colony? 

8. How were the different classes employed? 

9. What was the condition of the free negroes in the colony? 

10. What is said about mechanics? 

11. Tell of the wealth of the colony and how it was obtained; of 
paupers. 

12. What class of immigrants came during the time of the Common- 
wealth? 

13. What was the principal employment of the people and how was 
it carried on? 

14. Tell what were the principal products. 

15. What took the place of money? 

16. What Hve stock had they? 

17. What was the number in 1649? 

18. What circumstances show the increase toward the close of the 
century ? 

• 19. What were some of the exports? 




((D, C^'« ■.C3-/p;'(p'^ ■(< 



EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR OF THE HOME OF AN EARLY SETTLER 

[ 110] 



OF Virginia and Virginians 



CHAPTER XV 

THE EMPLOYMENTS AND CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE 

CONTINUED. 

Buildings. — The houses of tJie first settlers were rude huts 
built of round logs, without floors, and with roofs of split 
boards. The chimneys were of the same material as the 
building, protected by firebacks of clay, with which the entire 
building was usually daubed inside and out for protection 
against the weather. These later gave place to houses of 
hewed or sawed logs, sometimes weather-boarded and ceiled, 
and to frame buildings. The latter was the typical residence 
of the Virginia planter throughout the colonial period, not- 
withstanding the repeated efforts on the part of the govern- 
ment to induce the construction of more substantial buildings. 
Brickmakers and bricklayers were early brought into the 
colony, but houses of this material seem to have been rare 
during the seventeenth century.* The first story of all the 
houses erected by Dale, at Henrico, was of brick, and there 
were brick buildings at Jamestown forty years after the set- 
tlement, but they were not common as late as the adminis- 
tration of Spotswood. The frame buildings were built with 
or without cellars and brick foundations, were a story-and-a- 
half or two stories high, with a brick chimney at one or both 
ends; and additions were made to them as necessity required. 
With the increase of wealth in the eighteenth century the 
larger planters began to build on their princely estates 

•'■ It was long believed that the brick of which the churches and large residences 
were built was brought from England as ballast in the returning tobacco ships, but 
it is now pretty well settled that they were made here. The ships were fully freighted 
with goods and luxuries for the planters, and the bricks were called "English 
brick." because they were like those made in England, and there was a natural 
disposition to call anything English that was of superior quality. Thus our Virginia 
mocking-bird was called the English mocking, though there was no such bird in 
England, while the brown thrush was called the sandy or French mocking-bird. 



Young People's History 



elegant brick mansions, resembling those of the English 
gentry at home, two stories or more high, with deep cellars, 

spacious rooms, 

broad halls, great 
chimneys and wide 
fireplaces. They 
were often almost 
square, with inside 
chimneys, which 
heated both the 
halls and apart- 
ments ; in many 
cases wings of the 
same material were 
connected with 
the main building 
by covered-ways or 
arcades, containing 
kitchen and but- 
t e r y, steward's, 
housekeeper's and 
domestic servants' 
WHERE jEF- quarters. The 
rooms and halls of 
the "great house" 
were wainscoted and paneled with costly woods from the 
floor to the elaborately carved cornices of the same material 
surrounding the ceiling. The stairways were broad and 
protected by heavy turned balusters capped by broad ma- 
hogany hand-rails. The walls were adorned with large and 
costly mirrors and sometimes with tapestry. In some cases, 
the interior of framed buildings was finished in the same 
way, though generally in the native woods. The lawns in 
front were ornamented with trees and shrubs. Broad ave- 
nues, bordered by gigantic oaks, led to the dwelling, which 




THE PINES, NEW KENT COU 

FERSON WAS MARRIED ILLUSTRATING 

WELL-TO-DO planter's HOME 



OF Virginia and Virginians 



113 



was rarely situated close to the public highway, but at varying 
distances ranging from three or four hundred yards to a mile 
or more. In tidewater Virginia, however, the favorite site 
was near some navigable stream. Some of these colonial 
residences stand to-day in evidence of the luxury, style, and 
dignity of the colonial gentry. The overseer's and servants' 
quarters usually formed a distinct settlement some distance 
from the "great hoiise." 




OLD COLONIAL MANTEL, FROM THE HOME OF DANIEL MORGAN 

Furniture. — The furniture, v/ith" few excep;tions, being 
imported, differed little from that owned by persons of simi- 
lar financial standing in the mother country. Among the 
well-to-do classes, the bedsteads, tables, chairs, desks, 
drawers, sideboards, etc., were either of solid mahogany or 
veneered, thin strips of mahogany being used to cover less 
costly woods. Plates and dishes were generally made of 
pewter, or of earthenware. Wooden plates and trenchers 
were used by the poorer classes. Cups, mugs, tumblers, tank- 
ards, salt cellars, and spoons were of pewter, and cups of horn 
were sometimes used. Even among those of moderate means 
many of these vessels were of silver, and among the wealthy, 
plates, dishes, candlesticks, snuffers, and spoons were of the 

8 



114 



Young People's History 



same material. Knives were of steel with silver handles for 
the rich, but of cheaper material for others. Forks were not 
in general use at the close of the seventeenth century. The 
kitchen utensils were of brass, tin, pewter, iron, earthenware, 
and wood. Large iron pots were swung on movable racks 
firmly fixed in the chimney; gridirons, skillets, and spits of 



iron, pans 




COLONIAL BEDSTEAD 



tin or earthenware, chafing-dishes of brass, 
wooden trays, tubs, pig- 
gins, noggins , etc., 
formed in part the equip- 
ment for the exercise of 
the art of cooking for 
which Virginia became 
famous. Baking-ovens 
were often of brick, and 
heated by fires built in 
an arch underneath con- 
nected with a flue or 
chimney. The dwellings 
were lighted by candles 

of myrtle wax, made from the berries of the myrtle, which 

grew in profusion, or made of deer suet or beef tallow ; lamps of 

brass and tin and tin lanterns were also used, and the resinous 

wood of the pine, popularly known as 

"light-wood," lighted many colonial 

homes, especially those of the poor. 

The forests afforded abundant fuel, and 

the wide fireplaces, filled with glowing 

logs of oak or hickory, dispensed a 

genial warmth in every home. 

Conveyances — Roads. — In the seventeenth century much 
of the travel was by boats along the watercourses, or, if in 
the interior, on foot or on horseback; but before the close 
of the century we find that coaches, chariots, chaises, and 
running chairs, (the latter probably the gig of a later period 




COLONIAL TABLE 



OF Virginia axd Virginians 115 

and the precursor of the modern sulky), had been introduced. 
Sir WilHam Berkeley owned a coach brought from London, 
and his successors doubtless followed his example. Like 
their predecessors from Lord Delaware's day, they surrounded 
themselves with the pomp and state of their high ofhce and 
lived in vice-regal style in their palaces at Jamestown and 
Williamsburg. Only a few very wealthy persons appear, 
however, to have indulged in such luxuries, and it was not 
until the first quarter of the eighteenth century that coaches 
began to come into general use even among the wealthier 
classes. The principal travel was on horseback, and this 
continued to be the chief mode of making long journeys 
even in the early part of the nineteenth century, especially 
if the journey extended into the mountainous regions. 
There were no roads in the colony at the time of the settle- 
ment except the Indian trails, leading from one village to 
another or to their hunting grounds. The cattle and other 
stock of the settlers were the first road-makers. These, in 
going out to and returning from pasturage, followed the 
easiest grades and least obstructed routes until well defined 
trails were made. These trails were followed by people in 
going from one plantation to another, and thus they were 
gradually improved and widened to permit the passage of 
carts, tumbrils, coaches and other vehicles. 

Dress.— The dress of the Virginians, like their furniture, 
was that of their English kinsmen of that day of like social 
station. Dress was one badge of rank and social position, 
and its distinctions were observed in the colony as in the 
mother country; though if Pory, the speaker of the first 
House of Burgesses, can be relied on, there was greater 
latitude in the new than in the old country. He describes 
the cow-keeper at Jamestown as "accoutred in fresh, flaming 
silk," and the wife of a collier — a professor of the black art — 
as wearing "her rough beaver hat with fair pearl hat-band 
and a silken suit," though the rank of the cow-keeper mav 



ii6 Young People's History 

have entitled him to silk "fresh" and "flaming," and that 
of the collier's wife called for her beaver headgear. That 
the Virginians were inclined to extravagance in dress, and, 
perhaps, to assume distinctions to which they were not 
entitled, is indicated by the act of 1619, assessing the unmar- 
ried according to their apparel, and married persons accord- 
ing to the clothing of themselves and the members of their 
family, and also by a law passed about the middle of the 
century prohibiting the importation of garments containing 
silk, and of silver, gold or bone lace, and ribbons wrought 
with gold or silver. Coats were of broadcloth, camlet, 
fustian, serge, cotton, kersey, frieze, canvas and buckskin 
with buttons of silk, brass, pewter, stone, and other mate- 
rials. The greatcoat was. of frieze, but on special occasions 
this was exchanged for a cloak of blue or scarlet cloth or 
of silk. The waistcoat was of dimity, cotton or flannel, and 
in a variety of colors. The breeches were of broadcloth, 
serge, linen or ticking; the shoes of ordinary leather or of 
the kind called French falls, with buckles of silver, steel or 
brass; the shirt of holland-, blue linen, lockram, dowlas or 
canvas; the collar of linen or lace, and the neckcloth of blue 
linen, calico, dowlas, muslin or fine holland; the stockings 
of woolen or cotton thread, or of silk. The head was covered 
with a beaver, a felt or straw hat, or a flat sailor-cap. The 
dress of the women corresponded in quality to that of the men. 
Silk and flowered gowns, satin and linen bodices, lace waist- 
coats, petticoats of serge, flannel, silk and printed linen or 
dimity were worn. Scarfs of many hues were worn about 
the throat, and mantles of crimson taffeta over the shoulders. 
Colored hose, silk garters and laced or gallooned shoes, a 
bonnet trimmed with lace, a palmetto hat, a satinet or 
calico hood and thread gloves, completed the outfit of the 
colonial belle. Woolen shoes and shoes with wooden heels 
were also worn. 

Food. — All classes of people lived well. To the products 



OF Virginia and Virginians 



117 



of the plantation was added the game of the forests and the 
streams. The woods abounded in deer and wild turkeys, 
and even in wild hogs and wild cattle; autumn and winter 
brought innumerable wild water-fowl, swan, geese and brant, 
and ducks in every variety. The water teemed with the 
finest varieties of fish, as well as crabs, clams, and oysters. 
Beer, ale, cider, perry, peach and apple brandies were pro- 
duced on every plantation, and rum, foreign wines and 
brandies were imported. The use of these was much more 




.^'^^^^^^''^^f^ais^fc^^ 



GREENWAY COLRT, CLARKL COLAfV, VA., THE HOME OF LORD FAIRFAX 



common than at the present day, but stringent regulations 
were made for the punishment of drunkenness. 

Social and Domestic Life. — Social life in Virginia was 
in its general outlines a reproduction of that of England 
during this period, modified by the difference of climate 
and the conditions surrounding settlers in a new and unculti- 
vated country, who were threatened by the constant presence 
of an active and cruel foe. We find it portrayed in the 
private correspondence of the colonists, the official records 
of the Burgesses, and other documents of unquestionable 
authority. The growing trade with the mother country 



ii8 Young People's History 

made this proud and ambitious offshoot of the Norman- 
French and hardy Briton famihar with all that was occurring 
in social and in public life "at home," for England was still 
"home" to the colonists, and regarded with profound affec- 
tion. Passengers and letters kept the Virginians posted 
as to the pastimes and field sports, and these were imitated 
in the colony. Dale, on his arrival at Jamestown on Sunday 
afternoon, found the colonists playing bowls, after service, 
as they were accustomed to do in England. The time of 
the wealthy planter was occupied in superintending his 
estates, the execution of details being left to an overseer or 
manager; in attending to public affairs as a member of the 
council or of the House of Burgesses, as one of the justices of 
the peace of his county, or as a commissioned officer of the 
militia; in the performance of his social duties, or in amuse- 
ment or in the study of the few books and papers then to be 
had. His wife managed the affairs of the household, super- 
vised cooks, house-servants, gardeners, spinners, and weavers, 
looked after the sick and infirm, and acted as hostess at the 
frequent social entertainments. The smaller proprietors lived 
very much as did their wealthier neighbors. Not having 
so many public duties to discharge, more of their time was 
given to the plantation, which they often managed in person; 
and when the servants or slaves were few, their wives and 
daughters performed a large part of the household duties. 
The planters of small means associated with their richer 
neighbors in field sports, hunting, fishing, and boating. 
These two classes were also thrown together in the frequent 
Indian wars, where they learned to know and depend upon 
each other. For these reasons the relations between rich and 
poor were cordial and friendly, notwithstanding the distinc- 
tions created by wealth and official position. Plantation life 
fostered individualitv and the spirit of independence, dis- 
couraged cooperation, and rendered each separate plantation 
a community, with interests and employments distinct from 



OF Virginia and Virginians 119 

its neighbors'. Thus there was produced a race of brave, 
hardy, self-rehant men, trained to the management of affairs, 
of whom so many examples appeared during the Revolution- 
ary period, as well as in subsequent periods of the country's 
history. 

AmusementS.-^Fox-hunting, fowling, fishing, cock-fight- 
ing, horse-racing, bowls, and other games were the planter's 
outdoor sports; music, dancing, cards, backgammon, etc., 
his indoor amusements. In the last quarter of the seven- 
teenth century, after the English had imported stock for 
the improvement of the native horse, racing became fash- 
ionable, and the passion early spread to Virginia. Horses 
of the best English blood were soon to be found in the planter's 
stables ; English foxhounds and imported setters and pointers 
in their kennels. The passion for fine horses and field sports 
has always been one of the characteristics of the Virginians, 
which the changed conditions of the present have not yet 
been able to uproot. 

Entail and Primogeniture. — The Enghsh laws of entail 
and primogeniture prevailed. Under the former, lands 
descended to the heirs of a certain line; under the latter 
to the eldest son. Thus these great landed estates were 
often kept together, but the old wills show that in many cases 
lands were distributed at the pleasure of the owner among 
his children. At the time of the Revolution, through the 
efforts of Mr. Jefferson, these laws were abolished, and lands, 
like other property, were distributed among the children 
of the owner in equal shares. 

Education. — Education received attention soon after the 
first settlement. Governor Dale attempted to establish 
schools for all children, but his efforts met with little success. 
The population was too scattered and the colony too poor 
at that time for the expenditure of the money necessary. 
Some of the planters employed private tutors in their families, 
who taught not only their own children but those of their 



I20 Young People's History 

neighbors. Boys, and sometimes girls, were sent to England 
to school, and young men finished their education in that 
country. We find frequent provision made in wills in the 
seventeenth century for the education of the children of the 
testator. That Virginia, even in colonial times, was abreast 
of her sister colonies in the matter of education is shown 
by the number of public men she produced, who were the 
leaders of thought and who shaped both the State and Conti- 
nental legislation during the Revolutionary period, and 
subsequently laid the foundations of the republic. Wash- 
ington, Henry, Mason, Jefferson, Monroe, Marshall, Pen- 
dleton, the Lees and their associates were not the product 
of an ignorant and illiterate people. 

Colleges and Schools. — As we have seen, near the close 
of the seventeenth century the Rev. Dr. Blair succeeded 
in establishing the College of William and Mary at Williams- 
burg. This was followed later by the numerous schools and 
colleges which have contributed so greatly to the advance- 
ment of the educational interests of Virginia and the South; 
among these may be named Liberty Hall Academy (now 
Washington and Lee University), Hampden-Sidney, Ran- 
dolph-Macon, Emory and Henry, Roanoke College, Richmond 
College, Virginia Military Institute, and the University of Vir- 
ginia, the greatest work of the great Jefferson; so that, in 
i860, in no other State or country of the world, save Prussia, 
had so large a proportion of the population enjoyed the 
advantages of a collegiate education as in Virginia. 

QUESTIONS 

1. How were the houses of the first settlers btiilt? 

2. What kind of house was usual in Virginia in the seventeenth 
century? 

3. When were the first brick houses buih? When did they begin 
to become somewhat numerous? 

4. Can you describe the houses of some of the weahhy planters? 

5. Tell about their furniture. 

G. How were their houses lighted? 

7. What conveyances had they, and how were the first roads laid 
out? 



OF Virginia and Virginians 121 

8. How did they travel? 

9. What can you tell of the dress of the colonists? Of the ma- 
terial used for various articles of clothing? 

10. What is said about food? 

1 1 . How were the colonists kept informed of what was occurring 
in England? 

12. What employments had the wealthy planter? How was his 
wife employed? 

13. What is said of the smaller proprietors? 

14. What effect had plantation life on the people? 

15. Tell of some of the sports of the period. 

16. What is said about education? 

17. When and by whom was William and Mary College founded? 



Young People's History 



SYNOPSIS FOR REVIEW 



Chapter XIII — The Close of the Century. 

WiUiam and Mary College. 

Sir Christopher Wren. 

The College Destroyed. 

"Good Queen Anne." 

Governor Spotswood. 

Indian School. • 

Expedition to the Valley. 

The Knights of the Golden Horseshoe. 

Blackbeard. 

Death of Blackbeard. 

Colonel William Byrd's Visit to Gcnnanna. 

Sketch of Byrd. 

The Hugxienots. 

Their Character. 

The Scotch-Irish. 

The Virginia Gazette — Methodism. 

The Origin of the Virginians. 

Chapter XIV — The First Settlers. 
Servants. 
Overseers. 
Free Negroes. 
Mechanics. 
The Cavaliers. 
Wealth. 
Agriculture. 
Products. 
Live Stock. 

Chapter XV — Buildings. 
Furniture. 

Conveyances — Roads. 
Dress. 

Social and Domestic Life. 
Their Amusements. 
Education. 



OF Virginia axd Virginians 



123 



CHAPTER XVI 

GEORGE WASHINGTON HIS BOYHOOD SURVEYOR FOR LORD FAIRFAX 

MISSION TO THE FRENCH IN COMMAND OF THE VIRGINIA TROOPS 

AIDE TO GENERAL BRADDOCK PATRICK HENRY THE PARSONS* CASE 

THE STAMP ACT. 

George Washington. — On Februar}^ 2 2d, 1732, a boy was 
born at Wakefield, near Pope's Creek, in Westmoreland 





i 






"^ 


wm 



MT. VERNON, THE HOME OF WASHINGTON 

county, vi^hose name was to take the highest place in his- 
tory. This was George Washington. His father died when 
he was twelve ^'^ears old, and George and his mother lived 
in Stafford county just across the river from Fredericksburg, 



124 Young People's History 

where his parents had removed, when George was about 
five years old, after the destruction of their home in West- 
moreland by fire; but much of his early life was spent at 
Mount Vernon, the home of his half-brother, Lawrence 
Washington, who was also his guardian. Lawrence had 
already seen service under Admiral Vernon of the English 
navy, for whom he named his plantation on the Potomac. 

Appointment in British Navy. — It was at first decided 
that George should enter the navy, and his brother obtained 
an appointment for him ; but as his mother could not consent 
to be so far separated from him, the plan was abandoned. 

Employed as a Surveyor. — Lawrence Washington had 
married a kinswoman of Lord Fairfax, who was then living 
in Virginia where he owned large grants of land, and George 
was employed to survey these lands. He had not had many 
opportunities for obtaining an education, but he was fond of 

! ~ i mathematics, and worked hard 

to perfect himself in it, so that 
at the age of sixteen he was 
able to perform satisfactorily 
the duties of a surveyor. 

Appointed Adjutant-General 
WASHINGTON'S BIRTHPLACE _]viission to the French.-He 

spent some years in this work, and he must have already 
given promise of ability and high character, for he was ap- 
pointed Adjutant-General of the northern district of Virginia, 
and in 1753 was sent by Governor Dinwiddle to protest against 
the French encroachments beyond the Ohio River. 

French Encroachments. — France claimed all the terri- 
tory west of the Alleghanies, from the Great Lakes to the 
mouth of the Mississippi, which England insisted belonged 
to her. The French were rapidly pushing southward from 
Canada, and Washington was sent to bear England's protest 
against their taking possession of this territory. 




OF Virginia and Virginians 



125 



Result of His Mission.— He encountered many hard- 
ships and perils by the way, having once been fired at by a 
treacherous Indian, and on another occasion narrowly escaped 
drowning. The French commander, Monsieur Le Gardeur 





de St. Pierre, received him courteously, b\it declined to yield 
one foot of the ground, and with this unsatisfactory answer 
he was obliged to return to Williamsburg. 

Placed in Command. — The next year Washington was 
placed in command of a force which was sent out against the 



126 Young People's History 

French; but the expedition accomphshed httle, being out- 
numbered and defeated. Within twelve months, however, 
a new attempt to dislodge the French was made by England. 

Braddock's Expedition. — In 1755 General Braddock, with 
one thousand British regulars, was sent to Virginia for this 
purpose, and to these were added as many Americans. Brad- 
dock invited Major Washington to become a member of his 
staff, and he accompanied the expedition as an aide to the 
general. Braddock was a brave soldier, but he was ignorant 
of the methods of Indian warfare, and was besides obstinate 
and hot tempered, and unwilling to take advice from any one. 

Defeat of Braddock.^ — His army was surprised near Fort 
Duquesne (dob kane), on the Monongahela River, and cut 
to pieces by the French and their Indian allies. Braddock 
himself was killed and the remnant of his panic-stricken 
regulars was saved by the gallantry of the Virginia troops, 
led by Washington, who, accustomed to Indian warfare, 
covered their retreat until they found shelter within the 
Virginia frontier. 

Washington Again in Command. — The fury of the savages, 
incited by the French, now fell upon the helpless settlers 
and murder raged along the border. Washington was placed 
in command of the Virginia forces, and remained at his post 
until the end of the French and Indian war, in 1763, when, 
by the treaty of peace, France ceded to England practically 
all her possessions in America east of the Mississippi River. 
He then returned to Mount Vernon, which he had inherited 
from his brother Lawrence. From the quiet of his fireside 
he was later to be called to unsheath his sword not only for 
Virginia, but for all her sister colonies. 

Patrick Henry. — Meanwhile another young Virginian was 
to wield a mighty influence upon the opinions and events 
of the day. This was Patrick Henry, who has been called the 
"Father of the American Revolution." 



OF Virginia and Virginians 



127 



His Education and Early Life. — He was the son of Colonel 
John Henry, who lived at his place, Studley, in Hanover 
county, where Patrick Henry was born in 1736. He never 
attended college, but his father instructed him in Latin and 
English, and in the former he was proficient. He possessed 
no turn for business, and after failing in more than one enter- 
prise decided to study law. He was careless in his dress and 
ungainly in his person, and in nothing gave promise of the 
ability and eloquence which were to make him a power in 
the land. 

The Parsons' Case. — Henry was nearly thirty when the 
opportunity came by which his name 
was first known. The salaries of the 
clergymen of the established church in 
Virginia had always been paid in to- 
bacco, 16,000 pounds each year being 
the quantity. It happened that the 
crop of one year v/as a failure, and the 
Burgesses passed a law that all debts 
might be paid in money at the rate 
of twopence a pound for tobacco. 
The clergymen who had been getting 
sixpence a pound appealed to the king, 
the Burgesses had no right to make such a law. It was 
determined to make a test case, and the Rev. Mr. Maury, a 
minister of the established church, of Huguenot descent, 
brought suit to recover what was due him. The law was on 
his side, but there were man}^ who disapproved of the law, 
and Patrick Henry was employed against the clergy. He 
had never before spoken in public, and he was so overwhelmed 
with confusion that his voice at first could scarcely be heard. 
Suddenly he recovered his self-possession, and lifting his head 
spoke in earnest and strong disapproval of the clergy and of 
the king who sustained them. Some one cried "Treason," 
and the excitement became intense. The jury, after being 




PATRICK HENRY 



who decided that 



128 Young People's History 

out five minutes, practicalh' decided against the clergymen, 
and the crowd, Hfting Henry on their shoulders, bore him 
in triumph from the room. So ended the famous "Parsons' 
Cause" — famous only because a young Virginia lawyer had 
defied the crown of England, and had eloquently declared 
that the Burgesses should be obeyed before the king himself. 
The question was soon to be considered again in another 
form. 

King George III. — With the death of Queen Anne the last 
of the Stuarts had gone from the throne of England, and the 
House of Brunswick now occupied the throne. These Ger- 
man sovereigns knew little about Virginia and cared less. 
Prince George, the third of that name, had become king under 
the title of George HI. 

The Stamp Act. — Charles H had declared that no taxes 
should be laid on the colon)^ save with the consent of the 
Burgesses. George HI now commanded that no business 
paper should be legal unless written on paper stamped by 
the crown. This paper was sold in the colonies and the 
money went to the king. This act was known as the " Stamp 
Act," and was the first step toward the Revolution. 

Resolutions of the House of Burgesses. — When the 
House of Burgesses met in 1765, the first question they had 
to settle was whether or not Virginia would buy the stamped 
paper. The issue was a very grave one, and its discussion 
long and earnest. Patrick Henry was now a member of 
the Burgesses, having been elected from Louisa county. 
Rising in his place, he offered his celebrated resolutions 
den^dng the right of the British Parliament to tax the colony, 
and vigorously opposed submission. In ending his speech 
he said, "Caesar had his Brutus, Charles I his Cromwell, and 
George IH " — when he was interrupted by cries of "Treason ! " 
"Treason!" The speaker paused, then raising himself to 
his full height, added, "may profit by their example. If 
this be treason, make the most of it." Great confusion 




PATRICK HENRY ADDRESSING THE BURGESSES 

[ 129] 



130 Young People's History 

prevailed in the chamber. Some cheered him and some cried 
"Treason!" but in the end his resolutions were carried, and 
Virginia declared she would not submit to the "Stamp Act." 
Virginia gave the signal to the continent, to which the other 
colonies quickl}^ responded. 

Repeal of the Act.- — The king now realized that he must 
either repeal the objectionable measure or declare war on 
the colony; and in 1766 the act was repealed. But other 
and equally tyrannical measures were soon to follow. This 
was the beginning and not the end of the trouble. 

QUESTIONS 

1. Tell about Washington's birth and boyhood. 

2. Why did he not enter the British navy? 

3. How was he first employed? 

4. On what mission was he sent, and by whom? 

5. Why was this necessary? 

6. What of his journey, and what was his success? 

7. What appointment did he next receive? 

8. Tell about General Braddock and his army? 

9. What happened to it? 

10. To what command Avas Washington then assigned? 

11. What other yotuig Virginian, destined to wield great infltience, 
is mentioned? 

12. Tell of his birth, boyhood and eai-ly life. 
1.3. AVhat brought him into notice? 

14. What was the "Parson's Cause"? 

15. Tell the result. 

16. Why is it so famotis? 

17. Who was now king of England? 

18. What was the Stamp Act? 

19. Tell what occurred in the Virginia House of Burgesses. 

20. What has Henrv been called? 

21. What did the king do? 



OF Virginia and Virginians 



131 



CHAPTER XVII 



RESISTANCE TO PARLIAMENTARY TAXATION NON-IMPORTATION RESO- 
LUTIONS THE FIRST CONGRESS GEORGE MASON ANDREW LEWIS. 

New Duties Laid. — In repealing the Stamp Act the 
Enghsh government had no intention of yielding to the 
wishes of the colonies, nor of allowing them to decide 
the question of taxation for themselves, as they had 

clearly the right to do; and 
in 1767 a new duty was 
levied on glass, paper and 
tea. 

Lord Botetour t. — Lord 
Botetourt was now gover- 
nor of Virginia, and was 
'^''//y very popular with all classes 
V ' of people. His sympathies 
were with the Vir- 
ginians, but as an 
officer of the crown 



Virginians to be 
Carried to England 
for Trial. — In addi- 
t i o n to the new 
taxes, Parliament 
" had urged the king 
to command that 
any person ac^cused 
of treason in Vir- 
speaker's CHAIR, HOUSE OF BURGESSES, ginia s h o u 1 d be 
NOW IN STATE CAPITOL arrcsted and 

brought to England for trial, which meant that he would be 




132 



Young People's History 



dealt with according to the king's pleasure, and no man 
could hope for fair treatment under such circumstances. 

Action of the Burgesses— House Dissolved. — AVhen the 
Burgesses met they declared that no Virginian should be 
carried to England to be tried; that no one shovdd levy any 
taxes in Virginia save the representatives of the people 
themselves; and that a copy of these resolutions should be 
sent to all the other colonies. When Governor Botetourt 
heard of these measures it became 
his duty to dissolve the House of 
Burgesses, and he accordingly did so. 
Non-Importation Resolutions. — 
But instead of separating and go- 
ing to their homes, the members 
reassembled at the Raleigh Tav- 
ern, in Williamsburg, where fur- 
ther resolutions were drawn up by 
George Mason, stating that the 
colonists would not purchase any- 
thing more from England or have 
any dealings with her until their 
wrongs were redressed. Mounted 
men took copies of these resolu- 
tions and rode with them north, 
south, east, and west. Throughout 
Virginia and everywhere people 
endorsed and signed them. 
Duties Repealed Except on Tea. 
For the second time the government of England, seeing the 
danger of the crisis, forbore to force the issue, and all duties 
save that on tea were repealed. But in the following spring 
(1773) Parliament announced "again its intention of bring- 
ing the Virginians to England for trial, and again the House 
of Burgesses promptly protested. 
Committee of Correspondence. — It was now decided that 




STOVE IN HOUSE OF BUR 

GESSES, NOW IN STATE 

CAPITOL 



OF Virginia and Virginians 133 

if the Americans meant to accomplish anything, they must 
act together, and a committee was appointed by the House 
of Burgesses, on the motion of Dabney Carr, to communicate 
with all the other colonies on matters pertaining to the general 
welfare. Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee supported 
the measure. It met with favor in the other colonies, 
and thenceforth they acted together. Patrick Henry and 
Thomas Jefferson were members of this committee. 

Death of Botetourt. — Lord Botetourt had died in 1770, 
lamented and honored by the Virginians, who named a county 
in his honor and erected to his memory a monument. This 
monument now stands on the college grounds at Williams- 
burg, having been removed to its present site from the front 
of the old capitol. 

Lord Dunmore, Governor. — Lord Dunmore, who had 
succeeded him, was the worst man possible for the place he 
was to fill. He promptly dissolved the House of Burgesses 
as soon as he learned of its action; but the blow had been 
struck. When the news reached England it aroused great 
excitement, for the home government realized that henceforth 
the colonies meant to stand side by side in the coming 
struggle. They would fight, if fight they must, together. 

British Troops Occupy Boston. — Meanwhile, elsewhere 
as well as in Virginia, the spirit of freedom and revolt against 
tyranny was awakened. Boston had been so outspoken 
that the town was already garrisoned with British soldiers, 
and England now selected this point for her first determined 
effort against the colonies. 

The Boston "Tea Party." — The import tax on tea, as has 
been stated, had never been repealed, and a cargo was now- 
shipped to Boston free of the export duty charged in England ; 
the price was, therefore, lowered to that extent, and it was 
hoped that the people would either suppose the import duty 
had been taken off or else, finding it so cheap, would recon- 
sider their determination not to buy anything of England, 



134 Young People's History 

and would purchase it. The Bostonians acted promptly. 
The ships were no sooner in the harbor than a band of citizens, 
disguised as Indians, boarded them and tossed the cargo 
overboard. As soon as the news of this outspoken act reached 
England, the Parliament declared the port of Boston closed, 
and trade with the town was forbidden. This act is called 
"the Boston Port Bill." 

The News Sent Out.— But the Bostonians had not been 
idle. Couriers were sent in every direction to carry to the 
other colonies the tidings of what has been called the great 
Boston "Tea Party." 

Action of Other States. — At Annapolis, in Maryland, the 
people compelled the owner of a vessel, which had brought 
a consignment of tea, to take his vessel out into the harbor 
and burn her in broad daylight; and at Wilmington, North 
Carolina, a tea-ship was boarded in the daytime and the cargo 
destroyed; in Charleston, South Carolina, a cargo of tea was 
seized and sold, and the money was used to help the cause 
of the colonists. 

Resolutions of Burgesses. — In Virginia, the Burgesses 
passed resolutions urging the people not to buy or use tea, 
and calling for a congress of all the colonies to consider the 
situation. Massachusetts had already taken the same course. 

A Solemn Fast.— The first of June (1774) was set apart 
as a day of solemn fasting and prayer, and everywhere on 
that day the Virginians assembled for worship. Tea no 
longer found a place upon their tables, and money and pro- 
visions were sent to their fellow-countrymen in Boston. 

The First Congress.— The first Continental Congress was 
called and met promptly in Philadelphia, September 5, 1774. 
each colony except Georgia being represented. It was com- 
posed of fifty delegates. The colonies sent their wisest men. 
The Virginia delegates were Peyton Randolph, Richard 
Henry Lee, George Washington, Patrick Henry, Richard 



OF Virginia and Virginians 135 

Bland, Benjamin Harrison, and Edmund Pendleton. From 
South Carolina came Christopher Gadsden and Edward Rut- 
ledge; from Massachusetts, Samuel and John Adams; from 
Connecticut, Roger Sherman; from New York, John Jay 
and Philip Livingston. 

Its Wise Proceedings. — The meeting was opened with 
prayer, and a deep earnestness prevailed. The action of 
the delegates was wise and judicious. They drew up an 
address to the people of Great Britian and another to the 
people of America, and the body then adjourned to meet 
again when necessary. 

The Effect in Europe. — This moderation gained for the 
colonists the approval and commendation of all Europe, 
and even of many in England itself. Lord Chatham, in 
the House of Lords, paid a high tribute to the American 
people and their representatives assembled 
in Philadelphia, who had now finished their 
work and quietly dispersed. 

George Mason. — George Mason, of whom 
mention has been made, as the author of 
the Virginia non-importation resolutions, 
was one of the greatest Virginians of his 
day. He was descended from an officer in 
the army of King Charles I, who came to 
Virginia after the execution of that monarch. His home 
was at "Gunston Hall," on the Potomac, where he lived 
with his family to whom he was tenderly devoted, busy 
with the duties of a Virginia planter and enjoying the con- 
genial society of books. 

The Bill of Rights.— The Great Bill of Rights, of which 
he is the author, was the foundation of Virginia's first consti- 
tution, as well as that of the United States. Mason's statue 
stands in the Capitol Square in Richmond with those of 
Washington, Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and John Marshall, 
who were his friends and fellow-patriots. 




136 Young People's History 

Andrew Lewis. — In the bronze group upon this same 
monument is another and very different figure — that of 
General Andrew Lewis, who, dressed in his hunting shirt 
with rifle in hand, fitly typifies the Virginian who lived and 
fought on the frontiers of the State in that day. The story 
of Lewis is an interesting one. He was bom in Ireland in 
1730, and his father was one of the Scotch-Irish who in 1737 
settled in the Valley of Virginia. Lewis's personal courage 
and ability early won for him the confidence of his neighbors 
and friends. 

Sent Against the Indians. — When in the spring of 1774 
the Indians renewed their hostilities, he was chosen to lead 
a force against them, which was to cooperate with another 
under Lord Dunmore himself. Lewis's own command 
amounted to more than a thousand men, and in September 
they set out for the Kanawha River. Provisions and ammu- 
nition had to be carried on pack horses. Their progress 
was necessaril" slow, so that it took them a month to make 
the journey. 

Battle of Point Pleasant. — At length Point Pleasant, at 
the junction of the Kanawha with the Ohio River, where 
they expected to find Dunmore, was reached; but he was 
not there, and soon a message was received from his camp 
near the site of the present town of Chillicothe, Ohio, ordering 
Lewis to join him there. Before Lewis could obey, however, 
the Indians suddenly attacked him. He was largely out- 
numbered, but his men fought gallantly, and all day long 
the battle raged, the Virginians stubbornly holding their 
ground, the Indians constantly pouring fresh reinforcements 
upon them. Twelve officers and over two hundred of the 
Virginians were killed and wounded, and still the struggle 
was not ended. Lewis now decided to bring matters to a 
close, and sent a force to fall upon the rear of the Indians, 
while he charged in front. Surprised and bewildered, the 
savages gave way, and in spite of the efforts of their chiefs 



OF Virginia and Virginians 137 

to rally them, they fled, and the victory was won by the 
Virginians. 

QUESTIONS 

1. For what principle were the Americans contending? 

2. Did the English government yield the principle? 

3. What other duties were laid? 

4. Who was now governor of Virginia, and what was his character? 

5. What other objectionable law was passed? 

6. What did the House of Burgesses declare about these laws, and 
what did the governor do? 

7. Where did the members meet, and what resolutions did they 
adopt? 

8. Who wrote them? 

9. What did the English government do then? 

10. What committee did the Virginians appoint? 

11. Who were members of it? 

12. To whoin and where did the Virginians erect a monument? 

13. Who was the next governor of Virginia? 

14. What is said of him? 

15. When the news of the appointment of the committee of cor- 
respondence reached England, what was the effect, and why? 

16. Tell about the Boston "Tea Party." 

17. What happened at Annapolis? What at Wilmington? 

18. What resolutions did the Virginia Burgesses adopt? 

19. What is a day of fasting and prayer? 

20. When and where did the first Congress meet? 

21. How many delegates were there, and who represented Virginia? 

22. Tell of their proceedings. 

23. What was the effect in Europe? 

24. Tell what you know of George Mason. 

25. Of what was he the author? 

26. Tell of Andrew Lewis and his battle with the Indians. 



138 Young People's History 



CHAPTER XVIII 

STORY OF LEWIS, CONTINUED THE VIRGINIA CONVENTION REMOVAL 

OF THE POWDER MUSTERING OF THE MINUTEMEN PAYMENT FOR 

THE POWDER LORD NORTH 's PEACE MEASURES. 

Lewis Marches to Join Dunmore. — When his wounded 
had been cared for and his dead buried, Lewis set out to find 
Lord Dunmore, who, throughout the fierce struggle, had 
rendered them no assistance, although his force amounted 
to over a thousand men. 

The Meeting — Suspicions Against Dunmore. — When the 
two officers met there was a stormy scene. The Virginians 
believed that the English governor had plotted with the 
Indians for their destruction, hoping to divert public atten- 
tion from the controversy with England, and by destroying 
General Lewis's command to cripple seriously the military 
power of Virginia. The evidence against the governor was 
strong, but the charges could not be proved at this time, 
though six months later his private agent was captured on 
the frontier and on him was found written authority from 
Lord Dunmore to induce the Indians to rise and massacre 
the Virginians. Later on the governor wrote to Lord Dart- 
mouth that he would require but few English troops to put 
down the rebellion, since he could raise such a force of negroes 
and Indians as would soon bring the Virginians to terms. 

Dunmore's Fiendish Purpose. — His intention was to free 
and arm the slaves and instigate them, to unite with the 
savages in their fiendish work. Dunmore's plans evidently 
had the approval and endorsement of the English govern- 
ment, for during the war then at hand England's officers 
offered a bounty for the scalp of everv white man, woman 
or child taken by the Indians. It is difficult to believe that 
a Christian king and a civilized nation could countenance 



OF Virginia and Virginians 



139 



such barbarous cruelty, but it is nevertheless true, and the 
monument in Canada to the memory of Brandt, who brought 
about the massacre of Wyoming, perpetuates the record. 

The Mettle of the Virgin- 
ians. — Governor Dunmore 
was soon to learn what the 
mettle of these Virginians 
was whom he thought he 
could so easily crush. In 
every county in the colony 
they were arming and 
organizing for service. 




INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR VIEW OF ST. JOHN S CHURCH, RICHMOND 

There was a committee of safety in each county as well, 
under whose orders the minutemen were to act. 

The Virginia Convention. — When the time came for the 
convention to meet, the delegates assembled in Richmond 



140 Young People's History 

instead of Williamsburg, where Dunmore held his court 
and where his troops kept watch over the town. The assem- 
bly met (March, 1775) in old Saint John's church, in Rich- 
mond, and Edmund Pendleton was chosen president. Patrick 
Henry made on this occasion the famous speech, with the 
closing words of which every schoolboy is familiar: "If we 
wish to be free," he said, "we must fight. The next gale 
which sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash 
of resounding arms. I know not what course others may 
take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!" 

Battle of Lexington.— The truth of Henry's words was 
soon to be verified. In less than a month the collision 
between the British troops and the Massachusetts minutemen 
near Lexington took place. There was no undue haste or 
rashness in the action of the Virginia convention. While 
expressing an earnest desire for peace, at the same time it 
resolved to prepare for war. 

Seizure of the Powder. — The opening months of the year 
1775 passed, the people, meanwhile, hoping for the best, 
but preparing for the worst. The worst was soon to come. 
Lord Dunmore's first act was an attempt to seize the military 
stores of Virginia, which were kept in the magazine at Wil- 
liamsburg. In the dead of the night he had the gunpowder, 
which was stored there, conveyed to one of the British men- 
of-war moored in James River. When this was discovered 
such an outburst of popular feeling took place that the gov- 
ernor promised that the powder should be returned. 

The Minutemen. — ^When the news of his action reached 
Fredericksburg, the minutemen mustered under arms imme- 
diately, with the intention of marching on Williamsburg 
and demanding the return of the powder. Washington and 
Pendleton urged them to await the decision of Congress 
in the matter, and they finally consented to disband, after 
signing a pledge to defend Virginia or any other colony 
against the encroachments of the king of England. 




OLD POWDER HOUSE, WILLIAMMI i !<■ ; . FKiiM WHRU DV 
THE POWDER 



REMdVED 



[ 141 ] 



142 Young People's History 

Patrick Henry Marches on Williamsburg. — Meanwhile 
Patrick Henry, with his usual impetuosity, had already 
mustered a company at Newcastle, in Hanover, and set out 
for Williamsbtirg. The people flocked to him as he marched, 
and he soon approached the capital with a force of 150 men. 

Payment for the Powder. — Here all was confusion. Lord 
Dunmore hurried his famil)' on board one of the British 
men-of-war, and he agreed to pay for the powder, sending 
Henry a check through the treasurer of the colony for £330. 
Henry gave a receipt for this amount, binding himself to 
turn it over to the Virginia delegates in Congress, and re- 
turned home with his command. Dunmore forthwith pro- 
ceeded to make a public proclamation denouncing Henry 
and his associates as traitors in arms, which does not appear 
to have troubled either Henry or his men very much. 

Lord North's Peace Measures. — Suddenly the news 
reached Virginia that England had determined to adopt 
more peaceful methods. The Earl of Guilford, better known 
as Lord North, then prime minister, had introduced a measure 
looking to the satisfactory settlement of the questions at 
issue. The colonies would themselves be permitted to decide 
what taxes they should pay toward the support of the home 
government. 

House of Burgesses Called.— This proposal gave some 
hope of a basis of agreement, and Lord Dunmore summoned 
the Burgesses to meet at Williamsburg to consider the matter. 
It was the last time that an English governor was to call upon 
the Virginia assembly to convene. He now appeared before 
them, and offering them courteous welcome, laid Lord 
North's "olive branch," as it was called, before them. 

Committee Appointed— Its Report.— A committee was 
immediately selected to consider and report upon it. 
Thomas Jefferson prepared this report, which opposed the 
acceptance of the Prime Minister's proposition. The com- 



OF Virginia and Virginians 143 

mittee stated that the colonists had the right to expend 
their money as they chose without permission from any- 
one ; that they had been wronged and their country invaded ; 
and that as far as Virginia was concerned she would take no 
action without first consulting her sister colonies. 

Wounding of Citizens— Flight of Dunmore.— While the 

matter was still under discussion an accident occurred 
which made a further consideration impossible. A party 
of young men went to the magazine to procure arms, and 
several of them were wounded by a 
spring-gun concealed within. The peo- 
ple immediately thronged about the 
magazine and made such threatening 
demonstrations that Lord Dunmore fled 
to the British man-of-war Foivcy for 
protection. As the members of the 
Burgesses refused to visit him on board 
the ship, he concluded that nothing 
could be accomplished by remaining 

^ - . THOMAS JEFFERSON 

near Williamsburg. He therefore sailed 

away, and proceeded to lay waste the shores of the adjacent 

counties. 

Dunmore's Depredations. — Back and forth along Chesa- 
peake Bay he went ravaging the country at his pleasure. 
Finally a force was sent to Norfolk, where he had established 
his headquarters, to put an end to his depredations. 

Battle of Great Bridge.— They met the British near Norfolk, 
and in the engagement which followed the English officer 
in command was killed and his men driven back. Dunmore, 
who seemed always more ready to fly or plunder than to 
fight, hastened to his fleet, whence he ordered the destruc- 
tion of the town. 

Burning of Norfolk. — The place was set on fire, and while 
the helpless women and children were fleeing from their 




144 Young People's History 

blazing homes this most unworthy of all the royal governors 
of Virginia opened a cannonade upon them from his fleet. 
Dunmore Driven from Virginia.— From Norfolk he sailed 
to the western shore of the Chesapeake, and occupied Gwynn's 
Island, at the mouth of the Piankatank, in Mathews county. 
Here his old acquaintance, General Lewis, attacked him 
with such good result that he made haste to New York, and 
thence to England, leaving behind him for all time a dis- 
honored name. 

QUESTIONS 

1 . What of the meeting between General Lewis and Lord Dunmore ? 

2. What did the Virginians believe about Dunmore? 

3. What was his object? 

4. What proofs were afterward obtained against him? 

5. For what did English officers offer a boiinty? 

6. How were the Virginians engaged at this time? 

7. When and where did the Virginia Convention meet? 

8. What celebrated and familiar speech was made there? 

9. Tell of its action. 

10. Tell the story of the seizure of the powder. 
IL Of the Fredericksburg minutemen. 

12. Of Patrick Henry. 

13. What did Dunmore do? 

14. Who was Lord North, and what can you tell about his peace 
measures ? 

1.5. What did the committee of the House of Bvirgesses say in 
reply? 

16. Who wrote this report? 

17. What prevented further consideration of Lord North's plan? 

18. Tell about Dunmore 's depredations. 

19. Of the battle of Great Bridge and the burning of Norfolk. 

20. Where did Dtmmore make his last stand in Virginia, and who 
drove him off? 



OF Virginia and Virginians 145 

SYNOPSIS FOR REVIEW 



Chapter XVI — George Washington — Appointment in British Navy. 
Employed as a Surveyor. 

Appointed Adjutant-General — Mission to the French. 
French Encroachments. 

The Result of His Mission- — Placed in Command. 
Braddock's Expedition — Defeat of Braddock. 
Washington Again in Command. 
Patrick Henry — His Education and Early Life. 
The Parsons' Cause. 
King George III. 
The Stamp Act. 

Resolutions of the House of Burgesses. 
Repeal of the Act. 

Chapter XVII — New Duties Laid — Lord Botetourt. 

Virginians to be Carried to England for Trial. 

Action of the Burgesses- — House Dissolved. 

Non-Importation Resolutions. 

Duties Repealed, Except on Tea. 

Committee of Correspondence. 

Death of Botetourt — Lord Dunmore Governor. 

British Troops Occvipy Boston. 

The Boston "Tea Party." 

The News Sent Out. 

Resolutions of the Burgesses. 

A Solemn Fast. 

The First Congress. 

Its Wise Proceedings. 

The Effect in Europe. 

George Mason — Andrew Lewis. 

Battle of Point Pleasant. 

Chapter XVIII — Lewis Marches to Join Dimmore. 

The Meeting — Suspicion Against Dimmore. 

Dunmore 's Fiendish Pt:rpose. 

The Mettle of the Virginians. 

The Virginia Convention. 

Battle of Lexington. 

Seizure of the Powder. 

The Minutemen. 

Patrick Henrv Marches on Williamsburg. 

Payment for the Powder. 

Lord North's Peace Measures. 

House of Burgesses Called. 

Committee Appointed — Its Report. 

Wounding of Citizens — Flight of Dtmm.ore. 

Dunmore 's Depredations. 

Burning of Norfolk. 

Dunmore Driven from Virginia. 



146 Young People's History 



CHAPTER XIX 

COMMITTEE APPOINTED VIRGINIA RESOLUTIONS DECLARATION OF IN- 
DEPENDENCE DISESTABLISHMENT OF THE CHURCH PRIMOGENITURE 

GEORGE ROGERS CLARKE. 

Committee of Safety. — AVhcn Lord Dunmore fled from 
Williamsburg, Virginia was left without a governor, and a 
committee of eleven members, with Edmund Pendleton as 
president, was chosen to act in his place. The committee 
had absolute authority, being accountable onl}' to the con- 
vention which selected it. Patrick Henry was chosen com- 
mander-in-chief of the Virginia forces, and thus the work 
to be done was at last successfully inau- 
gurated. 

The Virginia Resolutions. — A year 
had passed since the minutemen, as- 
sembled at Fredericksburg, had pledged 
themselves and their swords to the service 
of the Commonwealth, and cried, "God 
save the liberties of America." The time 
had now come when it behooved the 

EDMUND PENDLETON . . 

American people as a nation to dehne 
their position and announce their intention to the world. 
Resolutions declaring the colony free and independent 
were prepared by Edmund Pendleton and read to the troops 
assembled at Williamsburg, who received them with shouts 
of applause. This was followed by the Bill of Rights and 
the new Constitution of Virginia, both written by George 
Mason. The former remains to-day almost the same as when 
first adopted. Patrick Henry was elected governor, and 
Edmund Randolph attorneA-general. 

Richard Henry Lee's Resolutions. — When Congress met 
in Philadelphia a month later (June 7) Richard Henry Lee 





OF Virginia and Virginians 147 

moved the adoption of resolutions declaring, "That these 
united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and inde- 
pendent States," and proposing a plan of confederation 
to the colonies. John Adams, of Massa- , *— = 

chusetts, seconded the motion. 

The Declaration of Independence- 
July 4, 1776. — The debate upon so open 
a declaration of war lasted three days, 
but Lee's motion finally prevailed. Mr. 
Lee having returned home, Thomas Jef- 
ferson was chosen to draw up the neces- 
sary paper, and it has come down to us 

, , U , ,,^, -r^ , RICHARD HENRY LEE 

through all these years as i he Declara- 
tion of Independence." From beginning to end it was the 
work of Virginia. A Virginia planter (Mason) conceived it; 
a Virginia lawyer (Jefferson) drafted it; and a Virginia 
soldier (George Washiiigton) defended it and made it a 
living realit} . 

Religious Controversies. — It would seem that there was 
at this time trouble enough abroad to tax the energies of 
every man, but another element of discord was to be added 
in a bitter religious controversy among the members of the 
different churches in the State. Since the foundation of 
the colony the Church of England had been recognized and 
established in Virginia, as in England. Its churches had 
been maintained and its clergy paid from the public funds, 
and alas! in its day of power much evil had been wrought 
in its name. The Baptists had especially felt the weight 
of its disapproval, and now reinforced by the Presbyterians 
and the Quakers, they were to retaliate. A fierce fight, 
led by Mr. Jefferson, himself a member of no religious body, 
was to be made upon the Established Church. In this he 
was supported by the leading non-conformists of the State. 

Disestablishment of the Church. — The friends of the Es- 
tablished Church rallied to its aid. They admitted that 



148 Young People's History 

abuses had crept in and that many of its clergy had proved 
themselves unworthy, but it was the church of their earliest 
affections, and it should not be overthrown without a struggle. 
Edmund Pendleton pleaded earnestly in its behalf. He 
was a man of the highest character and ability, but he covild 
not prevail, and the disestablishment of the Church of 
England in Virginia was accomplished. 

Religious Liberty. — To-day we know that government 
support of any denomination is unwise and unnecessary. 
In this free land of ours every man is now at liberty to wor- 
ship as he chooses, and to contribute as he sees fit to the 
maintenance of his own church. 

The Law of Primogeniture. — Along with the downfall of 
the English church went also the English law of primo- 
geniture. By this law the vast estates in the colony had 
descended from the father to the eldest son for generations. 
This property could not be willed away from the direct 
line of descent, or held responsible for any debts made by 
its owner. This law is still in force in England, but was 
swept from the statute books of Virginia 
more than a century ago. 

Progress of the War. — While all this 
uproar and confusion of interests pre- 
vailed within the Commonwealth, the 
war with England was being energetic- 
ally conducted to the northward. Wash- 
ington was in command of the armies 
DANIEL MORGAN ^^ ^j^^ united colouics ; voluntccrs from 
Virginia had long since marched to the aid of Massachusetts; 
Morgan's riflemen from the Valley had won distinction on 
every field, and throughout the contest her sons were to 
uphold with courage and fortitude the honor of their State. 
Expedition Against the British in the Northwest.— As the 
scope of this work does not permit a treatment of the revo- 
lutionary campaigns of 1775, 1776 and 1777, this part of the 





OF Virginia and Virginians 149 

war is passed over. In 1778 the soldiers of Virginia won 
distinction in the Northwest — the vast territory lying between 
the Great Lakes, the Ohio River and the Mississippi, which 
had already been the scene of many a border struggle. By the 
terms of her charter Virginia owned all this territory, and an 
expedition was now to be made against 
the English forces garrisoned there. 

George Rogers Clarke!s Victories.— 
This expedition was in command of Gen- 
eral George Rogers Clarke, a native of 
Albemarle county, who had fought with 
Lewis at Point Pleasant. He laid his 
plans before Patrick Henry, who gave 
him authority to raise four companies of 
Virginia troops; and in 1778 he set out to ^'-^ "'■''■'■- '■^''^-ers 
capture the forts at Kaskaskia and Vin- 
cennes. He succeeded in both attempts, and, leaving a garri- 
son to hold what he had won, he returned home. 

The British Recapture Vinceimes. — Within a short time 
he learned that the English had come down from Canada 
and retaken Vincennes, and he at once began to organize 
another expedition against them. The royal forces were 
commanded by the governor of Canada, Colonel Hamilton, 
who, on account of the readiness with which he purchased 
the scalps of the white settlers from the Indians, was called 
"the hair-buyer general." 

Clarke's Second Campaign. — Clarke set out in the bitter 
winter weather on his march through the wilderness. Much 
of the low country was under water, and through this the 
troops struggled half-frozen and weak from hunger. Their 
approach was entirely unsuspected by Hamilton, who 
believed such a march as they had made in such weather 
impossible. Nevertheless, he fought bravely for the posses- 
sion of Vincennes, but was at last obliged to surrender, 
and was sent a prisoner to Williamsburg. 



ISO 



Young People's History 



The Northwest Territory. — By this dauntless exploit 
the whole of the Northwest Territory fell into possession 
of Virginia. After the Revolution, it was transferred by 
her to the United States. Clarke earned for himself the title 
of "the Hannibal of the West," an honor he richly deserved. 

The Character of the Virginians.— Those old Virginians 
were a brave and active people; for generations they held 




CLARKE S MARCH TO VINCENNES 

themselves in readiness to defend their homes. They were 
hunters and horsemen, and were trained to war with the 
Indians. They had been taught by their mothers and their 
preachers to love and honor the king, but to defend their 
rights if ever the English crown denied them. Above all, 
they were taught their duty to God, to tell the truth, to 
respect and protect women, and to fear no man; and it is no 
wonder they succeeded against such heavy odds. The 
women were as brave and as self-sacrificing as the men, and 
young and old alike did their part. 

Elizabeth Zane. — Among the names remembered in the 
history of the border is that of Elizabeth Zane. The gov- 
ernor of Canada sent a band of Indians to surprise and 



OF Virginia and Virginians 151 

murder the people at Wheeling. The settlers managed to 
reach the fort, and fought till their powder was exhausted. 
Elizabeth Zane, a young girl, volunteered to go for powder, 
and succeeded, though under fire of the Indians, in bring- 
ing a keg of gunpowder into the fort, which was saved by 
her heroism. 

QUESTIONS 

1. When Dvmmore fled, what kind of government did the Virginians 
adopt? 

2. Who was chosen commander-in-chief? 

3. What celebrated papers were adopted? 

4. Who wrote them? 

5. Who was the first governor of Virginia under the new govern- 
ment? 

6. When, where, and by whom were the first resolutions oft'ered 
declaring all the colonies free and independent? 

7. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence? 

8. What religiotis controversy occurred about this time? 

9. Who were the leaders? 

10. What do you understand bj^ "religious liberty? " 

11. What was the law of primogeniture? 

12. Tell about the progress of the war. 

13. Who conducted an army to the Northwest? 

14. Where are Kaskaskia and Vincennes? 

15. What State owned this territory? 

16. Tell of Clarke's march. 

17. What did Virginia do with this great domain conquered by her 
soldiers? 

IS. Tell what is said of the character of the Virginians of that day. 
19. Tell the story of Ehzabeth Zane. 



[52 Young People's History 



CHAPTER XX 

THE PROGRESS OF THE WAR ARNOLD's INVASION LORD CORNWAI.LIS 

TARLETON's raids ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE YORKTOWN 

The Unequal Struggle. — The War of the Revolution 
was now fairly under way and the prospects of the Ameri- 
can people had not brightened with the passing months. 
It was a very unequal struggle between the wealth and power 
of a great nation and the determined efforts of weak colonies. 
The longer the war continued, the greater the drain upon the 
resources of the Americans and the smaller their chances 
for success. 

The War Transferred to Virginia — Benedict Arnold.— 
Heretofore the contest had been conducted chiefly in the 
northern colonies and in the Carolinas, but now Virginia 
was to become the battle-ground. In 1781 Benedict Arnold, 
of New England, the traitor, who had agreed to sell West 
Point to the British, and who had received as his reward a 
commission in the royal army, ;^6,3i5, and the contempt 
of mankind, arrived in Chesapeake Bay with nearly a thou- 
sand men. As all the available troops in the State had been 
sent to General Greene in the Carolinas, Arnold marched on 
Richmond, meeting with little or no opposition on the way. 
He burned the warehouses and public buildings, and retired 
to Portsmouth, followed by a small force of militia. A more 
determined attack was soon to be made by Lord Cornwallis, 
who commanded the British army in the South, and was 
now moving from North Carolina into Virginia. 

Lafayette. — Washington sent Lafayette to oppose him. 
This young French nobleman had offered his sword to the 
American cause and was to prove a valued ally in her hour 
of need. Cornwallis, an officer of years and experience, 



OF Virginia and Virginians 153 

ridiculed the idea that his young opponent could embarrass 
him or thwart his plans. 

Tarleton's Burnings. — The English method of conducting 
the war was cruel in the extreme. The cavalry under 
Tarleton advanced, ravaging the country as they rode. 





IH 




'^^ 'fl^^^H 


w ^'' 


SI 


^^^^^^^gp 


^^^B 


^m^iH^ "4' " Hji^i^^^^i 



LAFAVETTI 



Houses and barns were robbed and burned, and stock of all 
kinds stolen or killed. What they could not use they wan- 
tonly destro^^ed. They found Virginia a land of prosperity 
and plenty, and left it devastated and in ruins. 

Effort to Capture the Governor and Legislature. — One 
of Tarleton's objects was to capture Governor Jefferson and 



154 Young People's History 

the members of the assembly, then in session at Charlottes- 
ville; and but for the fidelity of a negro servant he might 
have done so, for his approach was so sudden that no one 
was prepared for it. It chanced that on the day of Tarleton's 
raid there was a dinner party at Castle Hill, the home of 
Dr. Thomas Walker, of Albemarle. Dr. Walker had served 
with Washington in Braddock's expedition, and was a man 
of prominence in the State. Among his guests at dinner 
was Patrick Henry. In the midst of the entertainment one 
of Dr. Walker's servants reported to him the approach of 
the British. A mounted messenger was at once sent to warn 
Mr. Jefferson, while Dr. Walker, Patrick Henry, and the other 
guests mounted in haste and set out for Staunton by the 
old road over Rockfish Gap. 

Anecdote of Patrick Henry. — Night overtook them on 
the way, and they stopped at a small cabin on the roadside 
and asked its mistress for shelter, explaining that they were 
fleeing from the British cavalry. The Virginia matron 
listened to their story, but she gave them no sympathy. On 
the contrary, she told them they were cowards, adding, 
"If Patrick Henry had only been there, he would have stayed 
and fought the British." Whereupon, that gentleman 
coming forward out of the darkness, introduced himself 
and explained to her that half a dozen men could not fight a 
regiment, and convinced her it was proper that they should 
not permit themselves to be captured by the enemy. Satis- 
fied finally with his explanation, she admitted them and gave 
them food and shelter. 

Escape of Governor Jefferson. — Meanwhile Mr. Jefferson 
had received the message sent him, and hurriedly placing 
his family in a carriage and mounting his horse, left Monti- 
cello and sought shelter elsewhere. Thus Tarleton was 
foiled in his purpose. 

Tarleton Takes a Hint.— When he reached Castle Hill 
his :Tien swept the place of everything save one old gander 



OF Virginia and Virginians 



155 



which looked too tough for their consumption. Mrs. Walker 
had the fowl caught and sent it to Colonel Tarleton with 
her compliments, and the British officer, taking the hint, 
gave orders that no further depredations be committed. 

The Cost of the Invasion. — Lafayette and Cornwallis 
marched and manoeuvred through much of tidewater Vir- 
ginia. The loss to the State during that year from the rav- 




M jMIlKLLU, the home OF J 1:. 1- 1- LkSON 

ages of the British troops under Arnold, Simcoe, Phillips, and 
Cornwallis, was estimated at several million pounds sterling. 
The Outlook Gloomy.^The prospects of the colonies 
seemed uncertain enough as the year 1781 drew to a close, 
and few would have believed that the end of the struggle 
was so near. Clinton was in New York and Cornwallis was 
at Yorktown, strongly fortifying himself against attack. 
But a change was at hand. 




156 Young People's History 

France Our Friend. — France had decided to take deci- 
sive steps in behalf of the American colonies, and Count 
Rochambeau was sent to Connecticut with 6,000 men, while 
a fleet under Count de Grasse sailed for Chesapeake Bay. 
It was determined that the French and American forces 
should be united and concentrated against Comwallis. 
The plan was kept a profound secret, Washington's wish 

being that the British 
should have no sus- 
picion of his intention 
until it should be too 
late to send reinforce- 
ments to Cornwallis. 

MILITARY HAT OF REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD ^ ^ lattCT, Wltll OUly 

Lafayette in his front, 
felt certain of the safety of his army until a fleet could be 
sent from New York to convey it thither. 

Siege of Yorktown. — Suddenly De Grasse and .Washington, 
with the French under Rochambeau, none of whom Corn- 
wallis was expecting, appeared — De Grasse by water, and 
the others by land — and September 25th the siege of York- 
tov/n began. After more than a week's bombardment it was 
decided to carry the works with the bayonet. 

The Assault. — The assault was made at night, October 
14th, the Americans under Alexander Hamilton advancing 
on the right, and the French under Baron Viomenil on the 
left. The defences were taken, and the cheers of the Ameri- 
cans and French conveved the good news to Washington, 
anxiously awaiting the result. 

A Truce Proposed. — Cornwallis made a last effort to 
escape from the trap in which he found himself by crossing 
the river and retreating toward New York. But a storm 
scattered and sunk his boats, and finally, on the 17th of 
October, 1781, he decjded to surrender, and proposed a 
truce of twentv-four hours to discuss the situation. Wash- 



OF Virginia and Virginians 157 

ington replied that he would only give him two hours. The 
American commander-in-chief realized that no time must 
be lost, for any moment might bring news of the British 
reinforcements from New York. 

Surrender of Comwallis. — Cornwallis was forced to agree 
to the terms proposed, and at noon on October 19, 1781, 
the English forces marched out of Yorktown, and the Ameri- 
cans and French took possession of the place. This virtually 
ended the war. The king still obstinately insisted on further 




THE COLLECTION OF THE VIRGINIA 
HISTORICAL SOCIETY 



hostilities, but the ministry and the people were against 
him, and peace was at last declared. 

Nelson and the Gunners. — An incident occurred during 
the siege which illustrates the spirit of the Virginians. 
General Thomas Nelson, who succeeded Mr. Jefferson as 
governor of Virginia, was the wealthiest gentleman in the 
State, and as generous as he was wealthy. He had brought 
to the arm}^ of Washington at Yorktown 3,200 militia, and 
by the use of his own credit fed the whole army at Yorktown 
during the operations there. Governor Nelson's house was 
within Cornwallis's lines and sheltered the British from the 
fire of the Americans. They were reluctant to fire upon it, 
but that noble man said he would give five guineas to the 
cannoneer who would first put a ball through it. Very soon 
one went crashing through its walls. The old house still 
stands. It was no wonder that after the war General Nelson 
was no longer a rich man, and when General Lafayette re- 
visited Virginia many years after the war of the Revolution, 



158 



Young People's History 



in which he had borne so brave a part, he wrote to Mrs. 

Nelson, then Hving in a modest house in Hanover county, 

that he desired 
to visit her and 
pay his respects. 
She rephed that 
she was unable 
to receive him 
a n d entertain 
him as so noble 
a guest should 
be received, but 
she sent her sons 
to escort him on 
his visit to York- 
town. Nelson's 
statue stands 
upon the Wash- 




,D NELSON HOUSE, YORKTOWxX 



i n g t o n monu- 
ment in our Cap- 
itol Square. He has many worthy descendants in Virginia. 

QUESTIONS 

1. What were the prospects of the Americans as the war continued? 

2. Where had the war been carried on chiefly? 

3. When and by whom was Virginia invaded? 

4. Tell of Arnold and his depredations. 

5. Who was sent to oppose him? 

6. Tell what yoti know of Lafayette. 

7. Who was Lord Cornwallis? 

8. Who commanded Comwallis's cavalry? 

9. How did thev carry on the war? 

10. Teh of Tarleton's attempt to capture the legislature. 
IL Tell the anecdote of Patrick Henry. 
12. Tell the incident of Mrs. Walker and Tarleton. 
1.3. What was the outlook for the colonies in 1781? 

14. Who came to the assistance of the Americans? 

15. What plan did Washington form? 

16. TeU of the siege of Yorktown. 

17. When did the stirrender take place, and what was the effect? 

18. Tell the incident of Governor Nelson. 



OF Virginia and Virginians 



159 



CHAPTER XXI 

VIRGINIA AT THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION 

The Poverty of the People. — When the Revolutionary 
War ended, the people of Virginia were very poor. The 




G/K® 




TWENTY SHILILIMGS 
CurrentMoney ofYmGiNiA 
PuRsuAisrT -to Orel ina nee of 

CaNVENTIOH 



^^^ 



FAC-SIMILE OF VIRGINIA NOTE IN HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTION 

State had contributed largely to the support of the Conti- 
nental armies, and the prisoners captured at the surrender 
of Burgoyne had been quartered within her borders; her 
coasts had been ravaged by the marauding expeditions of 
Arnold and Phillips, and her plantations and villages far in 
the interior laid waste by Tarleton and Cornwallis. The 
American and French troops engaged in the siege of York- 
town had been supplied from her stores. 

Recovery Slow. — Some years passed before she recovered 
from the immense drain made by the war upon her resources 



i6o 



Young People's History 



and from the losses sustained in property destroyed or 
carried off by the enemy, including many negro slaves whose 
labor would have been helpful in building up the impoverished 
country. These losses were aggravated by the fact that there 
was little or no money in the country except the old Conti- 
nental paper money, which had become worthless, and the 
paper money issued by the States, which was but little 
better, and a few gold and silver coins of England, France, 
Spain, and Holland. 

Difficulty of Collecting Taxes. — In many of the richest 




WOODLAWN, THE HOME OF NELLIE CURTIS, BUILT IN 1S03 

counties in the State the people were too poor to pay their 
taxes. Few persons could be found who would voluntarily 
undertake the office of high-sheriff, and most of those who 
were compelled to assume the office saw their private fortunes 
swept away to meet the demands of the State for taxes which 
they were unable to collect from the people. 

The Country New. — The country was, however, com- 
paratively new and sparsely settled, and there were thou- 
sands of acres of rich and productive lands to be had at low 
prices. There were few villages and fewer towns, as the 
people were almost exclusively engaged in agriculture, and 



OF Virginia and Virginians i6i 

lived on their farms. Norfolk, the chief seaport of Virginia, 
had, however, a larger trade than New York; the flags of all 
nations floated in her harbor, and Virginia soon began to 
advance in population and wealth. The tobacco crop was 
large and was shipped to Europe, the returning ships being 
richly freighted with fine clothing, furniture, and luxuries 
for the table. From 1791 to 1802 Virginia exported products 
valued at $42,833,000, and the revenues of the State derived 
from custom duties for the year preceding the adoption of 
the Constitution exceeded $300,000. 

How the People Lived. — The change from the colonial 
form of government to that of a federative republic brought 
little change in the customs and manner of life of the people. 
In eastern Virginia the lowlands along the principal water 
courses formed the plantations of the large landed proprietors, 
which were cultivated by negroes, and were oftener than 
otherwise in charge of a manager or overseer; for the pro- 
prietors, to avoid the malaria of the lowlands, then more to 
be dreaded than now, btiilt their residences back in the forests 
among the hills which overlooked the streams. The lands 
still farther in the interior were usually held by the smaller 
planters and farmers, most of whom lived in as much comfort, 
if not on so grand a scale, as their lowland neighbors. 

Their Industries. — Besides the grain and tobacco, the 
horses, cattle, sheep, hogs, and poultry were produced on 
the plantations. The hoes, plows, axes, and other implements 
of husbandry, and many articles of furniture and of house- 
hold use, as well as the ordinary clothing, were made at 
home. Each large plantation had its blacksmiths, car- 
penters, tanners, shoemakers, spinners, weavers, and tailors, 
and often its millers, so that the people were in the main 
self-sustaining and independent. 

Their Exports and Imports. — The wealthier class shipped 
their tobacco and flour to their merchants, or factors, in 



i62 Young People's History 

foreign countries, and the vessels brought back to their 
wharves as return cargoes the broadcloths, the silks, velvets, 
brocades, dimities, taffetas, laces, and linens which they 
wore, and in which they appear in the pictures and portraits 
which have come down to us from that period; and also the 
sugar, molasses, rum, fruits, wines, and other luxuries for 
their tables. The smaller planters and farmers sold their 
surplus products to the home merchants and took in exchange 
the foreign goods which they needed. 

Paupers. — There were few paupers, for in a land so blest 
by nature, under liberal laws which secured to the individual 
the fruits of his labor, energy and industry received their 
due reward, and only the idle and dissolute could come to 
want. 

Piedmont and the Valley. — In Piedmont and the Valley 
the slaves were not so numerous as in the eastern and southern 
counties, but their fertile lands, adapted to the cereals and 
grasses, and consequently to stock-raising, as well as tobacco, 
were the homes of a thrifty, industrious, intelligent, and 
cultivated population. 

Their Markets. — There were no railroads, and the trade 
of the Valley and the interior found markets at the head of 
navigation on the various rivers. Richmond, Petersburg, 
Fredericksburg, Alexandria, and Norfolk w^ere the principal 
outlets to which it was hauled by wagons or brought by 
boats from the head-waters ©f the streams. From these 
ports the products of the country were shipped in sailing 
vessels to the West Indies, to Old and New England, and to 
other cotmtries. 

The Wagon Trains. — These trains of wagons, from the upper 
country, with their snow-white canvas covers, their fat, 
sleek, well-groomed horses, their harness ornamented with 
ribbons and hung with tinkling bells, the drivers often in 
buckskin hunting shirts, and carrying the knife and horn of 
the backwoodsman, made a striking and attractive picture 



OF ViRGIXIA AND VIRGINIANS 163 

as they wound along the highways that thread many of the 
beautiful landscapes of the State. With the introduction and 
extension of railroads the wagon trains gradually disappeared. 

QUESTIONS 

1. What was the condition of the people at the end of the war? 

2. Why? 

3. What were the people too poor to pay? 

4. What contributed to the recovery of the State from her impov- 
ensiiment? 

5. Tell how the people lived in eastern Virginia. 

6. What did they produce? 

7. What did they export? 

8. What were some of their imports? 

9. Why were there few paupers? 

10. What is said of Piedmont and the Valley? 

11. Where were their principal markets? 

12. How were these reached? 



164 Young People's History 



SYNOPSIS FOR REVIEW 



Chapter XIX — Committee of Safety. 

The Virginia Resolutions. 

Richard Henry Lee's Resohitions. - 

The Declaration of Independence. 

Religious Controversies. 

Disestablishment of the Church. 

Religious Liberty. 

The Law of Primogeniture. 

Progress of the War. 

Expedition Against the British in the Northwest. 

George Rogers Clarke's Victories. 

The Northwest Territory. 

The Character of the Virginians. 

Elizabeth Zane. 

Chapter XX — The Unequal Struggle. 

War Transferred to Virginia — Benedict Arnold. 

Lafayette. 

Tarleton's Burnings. 

Effort to Capture the Governor and Legislatiire. 

Anecdote of Patrick Henry. 

Escape of Governor Jefferson. 

Tarleton Takes a Hint. 

The Cost of the Invasion. 

The Outlook Gloomy. 

France Our Friend. 

Siege of Yorktown. 

The Assault. 

A Truce Proposed. 

Surrender of Cornwallis. 

Nelson and the Gimners. 

Chapter XXI — The Poverty of the People. 
Recovery Slow. 
The Country New. 
How the People Lived. 
Their Industries. 
Their Exports and Imports. 
Paupers. 

Piedmont and the Valley. 
Their Markets. 
The Wagon Trains. 



OF Virginia and Virginians 



165 



CHAPTER XXII 



THE FUTURE GOVERNMENT THE CONVENTION OF 1787 THE OPPOSI- 
TION IN VIRGINIA THE GOVERNMENT ESTABLISHED THOMAS JEF- 
FERSON HIS ADMINISTRATION LEWIS AND CLARKE's EXPLORA- 
TIONS AARON BURR JUDGE MARSHALL. 

The Future Government. — The question now before the 
colonies was one of their future union or separation. Would 
they live as they had fought — one nation — or would they 
go their separate ways, as before the Revolution? 

Virginia for Union. — ^Virginia was strongly for union of 
all the States. Her people not only urged and endorsed it, 
but they were willing to make sacrifices to ensure it. This 
was proved by the gift of the great Northwest Territory, 
which belonged absolutely to Virginia, and which she ceded 
to the government of the United States. It included the 
territory out of which the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, 
Wisconsin, and Michigan were formed. 

Convention of 1787. — A convention was 
called, composed of delegates from all the 
States, to revise the old Articles of Con- 
federation, but it ended in the prepara- 
tion of a new Constitution. The conven- 
tion assembled in Philadelphia in 1787, 
and Washington was elected president. 
The debates were long and often heated, 
but at last the various articles compos- 
ing the new Constitution were agreed upon, and it remained 
only to be ratified by the different States before it was to 
go into effect. 

The Virginia Convention. — A convention was called in 
Richmond to consider the new Constitution, and now the 




JAMES MADISON 



i66 Young People's History 

trouble broke out afresh. Patrick Henry vehemently opposed 
it, as did Mason, Richard Henry Lee, and Monroe. Chief- 
Justice Marshall, the greatest of American jurists, favored 
its ratification, as did also Washington, Henry Lee, and James 
Madison. The fight in the convention was a bitter one, btit 
the advocates of the Constitution triumphed by a small 
majority, and it was decided to accept it subject to certain 
amendments. The several States ratified the Constitution 
through conventions at different dates from November 6, 
1787, to May 29, 1790, and thus the union of the thirteen 
original States was founded. Each one of these considered 
that it had the power and right to withdraw from the con- 
federation whenever it saw fit, just as it had the power and 
right to enter it. For three-quarters of a century that right 
was seldom questioned, and New England threatened re- 
peatedly through her representatives in Congress and in 
convention to exercise it, before the first quarter of a cen- 
tury had expired. 

Washington Elected President. — George Washington was 
elected first President of the United States, and took the 
oath of office in New York city April 30, 1789. The new 
order of affairs was thus ushered in. 

Thomas Jefferson. — In all the difficulties which Virginia 
had now to meet no one of her sons manifested more zeal 
or more wisdom in her service than Thomas Jefferson. Gov- 
ernor of the State, representative in congress, minister to 
France, secretary of state, and twice president, his life was a 
wonderful record of long and honorable public service. Of 
great simplicity of taste and manner, he abhorred all that 
tended toward state ceremony or parade of office. His 
intellect was of the highest order and his industry indefati- 
gable. Early and late he labored for the honor of his State 
and country. 

University of Virginia. — It was Jefferson who planned 
and in 18 19 laid the foundation of our great university, and 



OF Virginia and Virginians 167 

day after day rode down from his home at Monticello to note 
the progress of the work. To the end of his hfe he toiled 
in the pubhc service, even after he had dechned to accept 
office again. 

Anecdotes of Jefferson. — Many stories are told of the 
simplicity of his manners, and of his courtesy alike to high 
and low. While riding one day with his little grandson, 




VIEW OF ROTUNDA, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA 

an old negro passed them and doffed his hat. Mr. Jefferson 
returned the bow, but the boy did not. Observing this, 
he said to his grandson, "Will you allow a poor negro to be 
more of a gentleman than you are?" On another occasion, 
while President, he was riding with some friends, when they 
came to a stream, and on its bank an old man stood waiting 
for some means of crossing. As the party paused for a 
moment, the old man went up to Jefferson and asked if he 
might ride behind him across the stream. The President 
immediatelv assented and carried him safelv over. When 



i68 Young People's History 

they reached the other side, one of the party asked the man 
why he selected Mr. Jefiferson to ride with. "I didn't Hke 
to ask the rest of you," he repHed; "but this old gentleman 
looked as if he wouldn't refuse me, so I asked him." He 
was much astonished to learn that he had ridden behind the 
President of the United States. 

Jefferson Declined a Third Term. — When his second term 
as President was nearly ended, Mr. Jefferson was urged to 
serve for a third term, and five of the States, through their 
legislatures, endorsed him, but he refused absolutely to accept 
the office again. His last days were passed in the quiet of 
his home, "Monticello," near Charlottesville, where he died 
July 4, 1826,* while the country was celebrating the fiftieth 
anniversary of the immortal Declaration which he wrote ; 
and here he sleeps his last sleep. The government has 
erected a monument above his grave, on which is inscribed, 
by his own request, that he was "the author of the Declara- 
tion of Independence, the Bill for Religious Freedom, and 
the Father of the University." 

Efforts to Explore the West.— Mr. Jefferson had long 
been impressed with the great value of the vast region lying 
along the Pacific coast, and wished to have it explored and 
its boundaries fixed. While he was minister to France he 
met a famous traveller named Ledyard, who entered into his 
views and agreed to go and explore the western half of our 
country. It was decided that he should travel through 
Russia, cross Bering Strait, and make his way southward 
along the North American coast. The great Empress 
Catherine gave him a passport through her dominions, but 
some of her high officials, being opposed to permitting a 
foreigner to travel through Russia, determined to murder 
him. Ledyard, learning of his danger, returned to Paris, 

*It is a remarkable coincidence that John Adams, of Massachusetts, the second 
President of the United States, who seconded the resolutions offered by I^ee, and 
■was one of the signers of the Declaration, died on the same day and almost at the 
same hour. 



OF Virginia and Virginians 169 

and told Mr. Jefferson he could not attempt the expedition, 
and thus for a time the project slumbered. 

Lewis and Clarke's Expedition. — In 1804, however, Mr. 
Jefferson determined on another attempt. He was then 
President, and he selected his private secretary, Meriwether 
Lewis, of Albemarle county, Virginia, to lead the party. 
Lewis had been an officer of the army, and his chosen com- 
panion was Captain William Clarke, a brother of General 
George Rogers Clarke, of Virginia, who, you remember, 
conquered the Northwest, Their party consisted of thirty- 
seven young men, a negro boy, and a dog. They set out 
for the headwaters of the Missouri, paddling up that river 
till they came to the mouth of the Yellowstone. Lewis 
sent Clarke, with some of the party to explore the Yellow- 
stone, while he, with the rest, went up the Missouri. An 
old Indian told him of the great falls of the river — that when 
he heard the roaring of the waters and came to a tall tree, 
where for many years the eagles had built their nests, he 
would be near the cataract, beyond which was the dividing 
ridge of the waters flowing east and those flowing west. 
One night, while he lay in his blanket on the ground, the 
wind, which was blowing gently down the river, brought 
to his ears the noise of rushing water, and he knew he had 
reached the falls. Next morning, as he went on his way, 
the sound growing louder and louder, he saw an eagle soaring 
high above him, and before nightfall he came within sight 
of the falls of the Missouri. 

Journey to the Pacific. — Clarke and his party soon joined 
him, and together they went on their toilsome way toward 
the shores of the Pacific. This was the first attempt to cross 
the continent of North America. For over two year^ they 
journeyed through the wilderness far from home and 
friends, and no tidings were heard of . them during that 
time. Finally the whole party with the exception of one 
man, who died on the way, returned home in safety. 



Young People's History 




Trial of Aaron Burr. — Another event of national interest 
which occurred during Mr. Jefferson's presidency was the 
famous trial of Aaron Burr, which took 
place in Richmond in 1807. Burr had 
been an officer in the Revolutionary 
army and Vice President of the United 
States during Jefferson's first term. He 
was a man of great ability, but utterly 
unscrupulous in character. He had 
schemed to found an empire in the 
West, of which he was to be president. 
He was arrested and his trial created in- 
joHN MARSHALL ^gj^gg excitcmcnt. In Virginia the feel- 
ing for and against him was very strong, and much antago- 
nism was aroused. 

Chief-Justice Marshall— Chief- Justice Marshall presided 
over the trial with 
characteristic 
calmness and jus- 
tice. It was held 
in the Hall of the 
House of Dele- 
gates, in the capi- 
tol. He insisted 
that Burr, not- 
withstanding his 
grave offence, 
should have a per- 
fectly fair and just 
trial. The jury 
brought in a ver- 
dict of "not 
proven," and Burr 
was released; but his career and his life were ruined, and he 
passed the remainder of his days in poverty and loneliness, 
practically an exile from home and friends. 




RESIDENCE OF CHIEF-JUSTICE MARSHALL, RICH- 
MOND, NOW THE OFFICE OF THE BOARD OF 
EDUCATION OF VIRGINIA 



OF Virginia and Virginians 171 

Character of Judge Marshall. — Judge Marshall was a 
very remarkable man. He had been an officer in the Revo- 
lution, ambassador to France, secretary of war, and secretary 
of state ; for years and until his death he was the chief -justice 
of the Supreme Court of the United States. His has been 
called the greatest intellect of that day, while his personal 
character was so high that no man could say a word against 
it. Absorbed as he ever was with the great affairs of the 
nation, he was often quite helpless in the common incidents 
of daily life, and many anecdotes are told of his abstraction 
and absence of mind. 

Anecdote of Marshall. — On one occasion he was driving 
along a country road when he found his path blocked by a 
large tree which had fallen across it, and, seeing no way out 
of the difficulty, he sat quietly waiting for assistance. After 
a while a negro came by, to whom he related his difficulties. 
The negro immediately took the horse by the bridle, and 
leading it around the tree, set him safely on his road again. 
The chief -justice thanked him gravely, and told him he 
would leave some money for him at a country store further 
on. That evening the negro presented himself at the store, 
and the proprietor duly paid him the money Judge Marshall 
had left for him. As he pocketed the coin the boy remarked, 
"That old man sho'ly is a gentleman, even if he ain't got 
much sense!" 

QUESTIONS 

1. What question was now presented to the colonies? 

2. What was Virginia's position? 

3. Tell about the convention of 1787. 

4. What prominent Virginians favored and who opposed the adop- 
tion of the new Constitution? 

5. What was the result? 

6. Who was elected the first President? 

7. What is said of Jefferson? 

8. What institution of learning did he found? 

9. Tell the anecdotes related of him. 

10. What did he refuse? 

11. When and where did he die? 

12. What is inscribed on his tomb? 



172 Young People's History 

13. Who made the first effort to explore the region on the Pacific? 

14. Whom did he employ, and why did he not succeed? 

15. What expedition set out in 1804? 

16. Tell of their journey. 

17. Who was Aaron Burr? 

18. Tell of his trial and the result. 

19. What can you tell about Chief-Justice Marshall? 

20. What anecdote is told of him? 



OF Virginia and Virginians 



173 



CHAPTER XXIII 



DEATH OF WASHINGTON AND HENRY VIRGINIA PRESIDENTS NEGRO 

INSURRECTIONS SLAVERY AND THE SLAVE TRADE 

Death of Henry and Washington. — In 1799 Virginia lost 
a statesman and a soldier. In June of that year Patrick 
Henry died, and Washington followed him in December. 
Together they had achieved a mighty work, and though 
widely different in their pesonality, they had been one in 
their patriotism and loyalty to Virginia. Patrick Henry, 
in his will, wrote: "I have now disposed of all my property 
to my family. There is one thing I wish I could give them, 
and that is the Christian religion. If they had that (and I 
had not given them one shilling), they would be rich; and if 
they have not that (and I had given them all the world), 
they would be poor." 

Presidents from Virginia. — Of the first five Presidents 
of the United States four were Virginians. Washington, 
Jefferson, Madison and Monroe in turn 
filled that high office, each of them 
serving two terms, so that for the 
thirty-six years succeeding the for- 
mation of the government Virginians 
held the presidency for thirty-two 
years. 

"The Era of Good Feeling."— When 

Monroe was first elected President, he 

received the vote of every State but 

one, and when re-elected, only one 

individual vote was cast against him. 

The period of his administration is known as the "Era of 

Good Feeling." From 1789, when Washington took th-e 




JA.MES MONROE 



174 Young People's History 

oath of office, till 1861, Virginia continued to grow in wealth 
and prosperity. 

Burning of the Richmond Theatre. — December 26th, 
181 1, an event occurred which sent a thrill of horror through 
the State and country, shrouded almost every home in 
Richmond in mourning, and cast its shadows upon homes 
and hearts far distant from the scene of the tragedy. This 
was the burning of the Richmond Theatre. A fashionable 
■ audience, composed largely of the most influential, dis- 
tinguished, honored, and wealthy people of the Common- 
wealth, had assembled to witness the performance of a new 
drama, given for the benefit of a favorite actor, to be followed 
by the pantomime of "The Bleeding Nun," by Monk Lewis. 
The curtain had risen on the second act of the pantomime 
when sparks were seen to fall from the scenery in rear of the 
stage. It was announced that the house was on fire and the 
w^ildest disorder and excitement prevailed. The occupants 
of the pit escaped without difficulty. The spectators in 
the boxes crowded into the lobbies, the doors to which 
opening inward were effectually closed by the pressure of 
the excited and surging crowd. The building, a wooden 
structure, was soon wrapped in flames, and seventy persons 
are known to have perished, many of them of the most 
prominent and distinguished families of the city and State; 
among them was George W. Smith, of Bathurst, Essex county, 
then governor of the Commonwealth. The dangers and 
terrors of the occasion were surpassed in pathos and sub- 
hmity by the exhibition of love and heroism afforded by the 
conduct of many of the victims. Parents rushed into the 
flames to save their children, husbands to save their wives, 
lovers, refusing to be separated, met death together in one 
of its most fearful forms. Some who had escaped in safety 
perished in the attempt to rescue some loved one who had 
been left behind. Among the latter was Governor Smith, 
who, having reached a place of safety, returned to the building 



OF Virginia and Virginians 175 

to rescue his little son who had become separated from him 
in the throng. The son escaped. Monumental (Episcopal) 
Church, erected the following year (18 12), now stands upon 
the site, and a marble monument inscribed with the names 
of the victims, whose remains are interred beneath the por- 
tico, perpetuates their story. 

Servile Insurrections. — Two other events marred the 
serenity of Virginia's progress^ — the insurrections of the negro 
slaves under Gabriel and Nat Turner. The first was in 1800 
and the last in 1831. No cause has been given for the action 
of these negroes. They themselves testified that they had 
good homes and received kind treatment. They seemed to 
have been seized with a sudden violent frenzy to wreak 
vengeance on the whites for imaginary wrongs. Both Gabriel 
and Nat Turner murdered men, women and children, sparing 
neither young nor old, and both paid the just penalty of 
their dreadful crimes. 

Virginia Protested Against Slavery. — These events made 
a deep impression in Virginia, where a desire for the emanci- 
pation of the negro and his return to his native land had 
long existed. From the early days of the colony the Vir- 
ginians had often protested against having slaves imported 
into their country. They sent one hundred and eleven 
petitions to the king and Parliament of England to stop the 
introduction of slaves, but that government found it too 
profitable a business to consent to its extinction. 

The Slave Trade Encouraged by England. — Sir John 
Hawkins, one of the most noted of English sea captains, 
was so successful in the business of kidnapping slaves and 
selling them to the Spaniards that Queen Elizabeth, who 
is said to have shared in his profits, gave him a negro tied 
or bound for a crest. If the slave trade had been conducted 
by the Dutch alone, it would soon have been stamped out; 
but, fostered and protected by the power of the English 
throne, it was no easy task to put an end to it. 



176 Young People's History 

New England and the Slave Trade. — By and by, the set- 
tlers in New England, noting the large profits made in the 
buying and selling of slaves by the English and the Dutch, 
determined to have a share in the business also. The soil 
of their section was generally unproductive, and its seasons 
short and unfruitful. There was little money to be made 
in agriculture, and little need of slaves to cultivate the crops. 
But the thrifty people who inhabited that region were not 
to be balked of their profits. If they had no use for the 
negro's services, they knew a land where he might be profit- 
ably employed, and so they brought hundreds of slaves to 
the Southern States to work in the cotton and tobacco fields. 
Vessel after vessel was fitted out in the ports of New Eng- 
land and sailed away to Africa to engage in this sinful traffic, 
which laid the foundation for many a large fortune in the 
Eastern States. 

The South Agricultural. — Until within the last twenty 
years there were few manufactories in the South, and her 
mines were comparatively undeveloped. From Mason and 
Dixon's line to the Gulf of Mexico the chief occupation of 
the South was agriculture. Her grain, tobacco, cotton, and 
sugar fields were her avenues to wealth, and it required 
many laborers to cultivate these crops; and so, year by year, 
the slaves increased and the evil grew. 

Sentiment in Virginia in Regard to Slavery. — The feeling 
in Virginia against slavery continued. Long ago, in 1829, 
General John Minor, of Fredericksburg, had introduced 
into the legislature a bill for the emancipation of the slaves, 
which was lost. A bill forbidding further importation of 
negroes into the State had been offered by Mr. Jefferson and 
passed ; and when Virginia made to the United States the 
magnificent gift of the Northwest Territory, she had already 
enacted that no slaves should be carried there, and thus 
from the outset Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and 
Michigan were parts of a free territory, and could be admitted 



OF Virginia and Virginians 



177 



into the Union only as free States. Under President Monroe, 
Liberia was purchased with a view to exporting the negroes 
and settling them there. Monrovia, its chief town, was 
named in honor of the President, who was himself a member 
of the emancipation society. 
Emancipation of Slaves. 
Some of the prominent 
slave-holders of the State 
gradually freed all their 
slaves, while others edu- 
cated and freed the most 
intelligent. Many land- 





A COLONIAL HOME INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR VIEW OF WESTOVER 



owners did not believe that slavery was right, and therefore 
would not buy any slaves. 

Responsibility for Slavery. — Negro slavery was the great 
sin and crime imputed by Old England and New England 



70 



Young People's History 



to Virginia, although they were the chief criminals in that 
business. Weedon, the historian of the economic history 
of New England, tells of a deacon there who, after the arrival 
of his vessel with a cargo of slaves, would arise in the congre- 
gation to give thanks to God for the safe arrival of hundreds 
of benighted heathen in a land where they would be within 
the influence of the blessed gospel. He tells how the New 
England slavers first made colored calicos to send over to 
barter for captive negroes; but when it was found that the 
negroes used no calico nor any other raiment, they became 
the manufacturers of New England rum, which was found 
much more profitable in trading for slaves. This infamous 
traffic does not seem to have affected the social character 
of the New Englanders engaged in it, for we are told of a 
United States senator v/ho carried it on up to the outbreak 
of the War Between the States, when he moved down to the 
West Indies and continued the traffic. It was only when 
the New England people found slavery no longer profitable 
that they became deeply moved by the sin of it, and, having 
first sold out to other people their stock of slaves, made it a 
penal offence, and charged that the Constitution was "a 
league with death and covenant with hell," because it recog- 
nized property in slaves. 

Refusal of the North to Surrender Fugitive Slaves. — It 
should always be remembered that at the time of the adop- 
tion of the Constitution, slavery existed in all of the Original 
thirteen States* It was fully recognized by that instrument, 

* Vermont claims the honor of having first excluded slavery by her bill of rights 
adopted in 1777. The census of 1790 shows seventeen slaves in the vrhole State. 

Massachusetts never did by statute abolish slavery, and as late as 1833 her Supreme 
Court left it an open question when slavery was abolished in that State. The census 
of 1790 gives no enumeration of slaves in that State. 

The statute books of New Hampshire seems to be silent on that subject, and the 
censu.? of 1790 gives to this State 158 slaves and one of these was still reported in 
1810. 

Rhode Island had a law that all blacks born after March, 1784, should be free. In 
1840 five of the old stock remained. 

Connecticut had a similar plan of emancipation. She held 2,759 slaves (the interest 
was too great for immediate emancipation). 



OF Virginia and Virginians 179 

which contained a provision that "persons held to service or 
labor in one State escaping into another, shall be delivered 
up on claim of the party to whom such labor or service is 
due." An act known as the ''Fugitive Slave Law" was 
passed by Congress for the enforcement of this constitutional 
requirement, and the law was sustained by the Supreme 
Court of the United States in a case which was brought 
before it, known as the "Dred Scott Case." Both the law 
of Congress and the decision of the court became the subject 
of bitter denunciation from many of the Northern people, 
and in fourteen Northern States "Personal Liberty Laws" 
were passed, which prohibited their officers from aiding in 
the enforcement of the law, thereby rendering it practically 
inoperative within their limits. Thus fourteen Northern 
States, by solemn legislative enactment, declared their 
purpose not to fulfill their obligations under the Constitu- 
tion, refused to obey the decision of the Supreme Court, 
and undertook b}^ State laws to nullify a law of Congress. 
When the North refused to be longer bound by the terms 
of the Constitution, the laws of the United States and the 
decisions of the Supreme Court, the people of the South knew 
that if the party which held these views ever got the control 
of the government, that instrument and the government 
framed under it would no longer afford protection to their 
rights, liberty or property; for, as the North's great states- 



Peunsylvania was in the same situation, having 3,737 slaves in 1790. Her interest 
was too great for immediate emancipation, so her act of emancipation in 1780, pro- 
vided that all slaves born after that time should serve as slaves until they reached 
the age of twenty-eight after which time they were free. The census of 1840 showed 
sixty-four still in slavery. A negro woman was sold by the sheriff in Fayette 
county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1823, to pay debts. 

A similar act was passed in the State of New York, and another act declaring 
slaves free after a certain date. In 1790 there were 21,324 slaves in the State. 

In New Jersey in 1790 there were 11,423 slaves. 

Virginia sent one hundred and eleven petitions to the English government to stop 
the slave trade, which were not heeded by that government, and when the Constitu- 
tion of the United States was framed Virginia urged the immediate abolition of the 
slave trade. But by the vote of the New England States the extinction of the traffic 
was put off until 1808. 



i8o Young People's History 

man, Daniel Webster, had said, "a bargain broken on one 
side is broken on all sides." 

Slavery Not an Unmixed Evil.— Slavery was not the 
unmixed evil it has been painted. Long years of kindness 
on the part of the master and mistress had its reward in much 
faithful and loyal service. During our late great war the 
fidelity of the negroes to the helpless and unprotected women 
and children all over the South was an honor to the Africans 
as a race and as individuals. 

The John Brown Raid. — But all the while serious trouble 
was brewing, and the question of slavery was to be made a 
national issue. In October, 1859, John Brown, a fanatic 
from Connecticut, who had emigrated to Kansas to fight 
against the introduction of slavery in that territory, where 
he became notorious by his deeds of violence, organized his 
infamous raid into Virginia. His intention was to arouse 
and arm the negroes and induce them to murder men, women, 
and children throughout the land. The result would have 
been terrible. At the head of seventeen white men and 
five negroes, he seized the United States' arsenal at Harper's 
Ferry, containing over 100,000 stands of arms, and captured 
a number of prominent and peaceable citizens of the vicinity 
to be held as hostages. 

Brown's Act Without Justification. — There is no justifica- 
tion for the barbarity of Brown's intention or the gravity 
of the evil he tried to accomplish. His enterprise failed; 
the negroes would not leave their masters, and he and his 
confederates barricaded themselves in the arsenal, where, 
after a determined resistance, they were taken by United 
States troops, sent for that purpose, under the command 
of Colonel Robert E. Lee, then an officer of the army. The 
prisoners were delivered to the Virginia authorities for trial 
for their heinous crimes. They were allowed to select their 
own counsel and were fairly tried by courts of law. After 



OF Virginia and Virginians i8i 

confessing their crimes, they were hanged in Charlestown, 
Virginia. 

Indignation of the People. — There was great indigna- 
tion throughout the South against Brown and his associates. 
In Virginia the feeHng was naturally very strong, but there 
was no desire nor intention in the State to secede from the 
Union because of this outrage. 

Election of Lincoln. — Sectional feeling was greatly inten- 




VIEW OF HARPER'S FERRY 



sified when the Republican party came into power, with 
President Abraham Lincoln at its head. As this party had 
passed the "Personal Liberty Laws," and in many ways had 
shown itself most unfriendly to the South, some of the 
Southern States decided to withdraw from the Union. South 
Carolina was the first to act, (December 20, i860), and the 
other cotton States soon followed. In February, 1861, the 



i82 Young People's History 

Provisional Government of the Confederate States was 
organized at Montgomery, Alabama, with Jefferson Davis, 
of Mississitjpi, as President. 

Virginia Seeks to Maintain Peace. — But Virginia refused 
to follow their example. She had laid the foundations of 
our great republic, and she could not consent to lend her 
aid to destroy it. She called a convention of her best men, 
and all her influence and efforts were still for the mainte- 
nance of peace. 

President Lincoln's Call for Troops. — Unfortunately for 
the country, Mr. Lincoln lacked the wisdom and moderation 
so necessary at such a crisis. He was urged not to proceed 
to extreme measures, which would compel Virginia and the 
other border States to secede. He refused to be advised, 
and called upon them to furnish troops with which to drive 
the seceded cotton States back into the Union. 

Virginia's Answer. — Then at last Virginia, driven to an 
issue, gave him her answer. She would not send her sons 
to make war upon their brethren of the South; and so her 
act of secession was passed, and she cast in her fortunes with 
her sister States of the South, and for four years became the 
field on which were fought some of the fiercest battles history 
records. The whole Confederate force numbered 600,000, 
while the Federal armies amounted to 2,772,000, or more 
than four and a half to one. Such was the unequal contest 
in which we were about to be forced to engage. 

QUESTIONS 

1. What loss did Virginia sustain in 1799? 

2. What did Patrick Henry say in his will? 

3. Name the first four Presidents from Virginia. 

4. Who was the second President, and from what State was he? 

5. What vote did Monroe receive, and what was the period of his 
administration called? 

6. What disturbed for a time the progress of Virginia? 

7. What was the early feeling in Virginia in regard to slavery? 

8. What country encouraged the slaA'e trade? 

9. Why did New England engage in it? 

10. Of what did the wealth of the South consist? 




[ 183 



i84 Young People's History 

1 1 . What was the f eehng in Virginia as to slavery about the year 1 SOO ? 

12. What was the feeling between masters and slaves? 
1.3. What happened in Virginia in October, 1859? 

14. Tell of John Brown and his fate. 

15. What was the effect of Brown's raid? 

16. What instrument recognized slavery? 

17. What did it provide as to fugitive slaves? 

18. What law did Congress pass to enforce this provision? 

19. What did the Supreme Court decide? 

20. What did many of the Northern people think of the law and of 
the Court, and what did some of the Northern States do? 

21. What did the people of the South then know? 

22. What had Daniel Webster said? 

23. What party elected the President in 1860? 

24. What did South Carolina and some of the Sotithern States do? 

25. What did Virginia do? 

26. What precipitated the war? 

27. What answer did Virginia give? 



OF Virginia and Virginians 185 



CHAPTER XXIV 

PRESIDENT LINCOLN BAD FAITH AS TO SUMTER PREPARATIONS FOR 

INVASION THE SOUTH FORCED TO DEFEND ITSELF. 

Abraham Lincoln. — The President of the United States, 
Abraham Lincoln, was one of the most remarkable men 
of this century. Born of humble parentage, his early years 
were passed in narrow and vicious circumstances. He never 
knew a mother's care, but struggled up to manhood by his 
own strong hand and inflexible will, and made himself 
President of the United States at a time when the hatred 
of the North to the South was fiercest. 

His Inaugural Address. — Escorted to the Capitol by an 
armed military force, he took the oath of office March 4, 
1861, and in his inaugural address announced that he con- 
sidered "the Union unbroken," and declared his purpose 
to "take care that the laws of the Union should be faithfully 
executed in all the States"; and also "to collect the pubHc 
revenue" at the ports of the seceded States, as well 'as to 
"hold, occupy and possess" all the forts, arsenals and other 
property which had been held by the Federal government, 
all of which (except Fort Sumter, in Charleston harbor, 
Fort Pickens at Pensacola, and the forts on the Florida 
Keys) were at that time in possession of the seceded States. 

Commissioners from the Seceded States. — Commissioners 
from these States were then, and had been for some time, in 
Washington, empowered to treat with the Federal authorities 
for a peaceful and amicable adjustment, upon the principles 
of equity and justice, of all matters relating to the common 
property and public debt. Eight days after Mr. Lincoln's 
inauguration, these commissioners addressed a note to Mr. 
W. H. Seward, Secretary of State, setting forth the object 



i86 Young People's History 

of their mission and assuring him of the earnest desire of 
the people of the Confederate States for a peaceful solution 
of all the questions at issue. 

Mr. Seward's Reply.^ — To this no official answer was made, 
but through Mr. John A. Campbell, one of the justices of 
the Supreme Court of the United States, and a native of 
Alabama, the most positive assurances were given that 
Mr. Seward was "in favor of peace," that "Fort Sumter, 
in Charleston harbor, would be evacuated in ten days, even 
before a letter could go from Washington to Montgomery;" 
and "as regarded Fort Pickens, in Florida, notice would be 
given of any design to alter the status there." 

A Change of Mind. — The administration, however, soon 
changed its mind, if, indeed, it had ever entertained the views 
expressed by Mr. Seward, and it became known that a fleet 
of seven ships, carrying 285 guns and 2,400 men, had been 
fitted out at the navy yards of New York and Norfolk, and 
had put to sea. Fearing its purpose was to reinforce Fort 
Sumter, the Confederate commissioners waited upon Judge 
Campbell and asked for information on this point. He 
immediately addressed a letter to Mr. Seward asking if the 
assurances as to Sumter were well or ill-founded. Mr. 
Seward repHed, "Faith as to Sumter fully kept; wait and 
see." This was on the 7th of April, when the fleet with rein- 
forcements for Sumter was nearing Charleston harbor. On 
the 8th Governor Pickens, of South Carolina, was notified 
by the Washington government that a fleet was on its way 
to reinforce the fort "peaceably, if permitted; but forcibly, 
if necessary." 

A Declaration of War. — This was virtually a declaration 
of war against the Confederate States, and, when commu- 
nicated to the Confederate government at Montgomery, 
General Beauregard, commanding at Charleston, was di- 
rected to demand the immediate evacuation of the fort ; 
and if this was refused, to reduce it, "if he had no doubt of 



OF Virginia and Virginians 187 

the authenticity of the notice of the W-ashington govern- 
ment to supply Fort Sumter by force." 

Demand for the Evacuation of Sumter. — The demand 
for the evacuation of the fort was made April 11, to which 




ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



Major Anderson replied in writing that it would not be com- 
plied with, but said verbally to the messenger, "I will await 
the first shot; if you do not batter us to pieces, we will be 
starved out in a few days." When this was reported to 
the Confederate government at Montgomery, the secretary 



i88 Young People's History 

of war replied as follows: "Do not desire needlessly to bom- 
bard Fort Sumter. If Major Anderson will state the time 
at which, as indicated by himself, he will evacuate, and agree 
that in the meantime he will not use his guns against us, 
unless ours shall be employed against Fort Sumter, you are 
authorized thus to avoid the effusion of blood. If this or 
its equivalent be refused, reduce the fort as your judgment 
decides most practicable." To this Major Anderson refused 
to accede, and was accordingh^ notified that fire would be 
opened upon the fort at 4:30 on the morning of April 12th. 
During the bombardment the fleet drew near, but did not 
participate in the action. 

Sumter Surrendered.— At the end of thirty-two hours 
Major Anderson consented to surrender, and was granted 
the most liberal and honorable terms. The garrison was 
allowed to march out with their colors and their music, 
and to retain all private and company property. Nothing 
was done to degrade or humiliate them. 

Effect in the North. — The capture of Sumter was used 
to inflame the Northern mind. The cry was raised that the 
flag, the emblem of the Federal Union, had been fired upon; 
the Confederates were denounced as traitors, and those 
who through long years had declared the Union ' ' a covenant 
with death, and a league with hell" became the loudest 
advocates of a "perpetual and indestructible Union," which 
must be maintained at all hazards. The responsibility 
for the war was shifted from those who began it, bv the 
attempt to forcibly reinforce Sumter, to the Confederates, 
who, having due notice of the coming invasion, took^such 
measures as would prevent the lodgment of a hostile army 
in the strongest fortress within their territory. The attack 
on Sumter was justified by the well-established principle of 
public law that "the aggressor in war is not the first who 
uses force, but the first who renders force necessary." 

Lincoln's Call for Troops. — President Lincoln issued his 



OF Virginia and Virginians 



189 



proclamation April 15th, calling upon the several States 
for their respective quotas of 75,000 men "to suppress com- 
binations in the seceded States too powerful for the law to 
contend with." The governors of the Northern States 
promptly responded to the call, and the governors of the 




CAPITOL BUILDING AT RICHMOND 



slaveholding States as promptly declined; for which they 
had a precedent in the action of the governor of Massachu- 
setts, who, in the war of 181 2, refused the request of the Presi- 
dent of the United States for its quota of militia to defend 
the country against a foreign foe. Armies began to be 
gathered at Washington under General Scott; at Chambers- 
burg, Pa., under General Patterson; near Wheeling, Va., 
under General McClellan, and under General Butler at For- 
tress Monroe. These four armies were to be directed against 
Virginia, and the Confederates made haste to meet the threat- 
ened attack. Troops were sent to Western Virginia under 
General Robert S. Garnett. General Joseph E. Johnston 



190 Young People's History 

began organizing an army at Harper's Ferry, General Beaure- 
gard at Manassas, and General Huger at Norfolk. 

Capital Removed to Richmond. — On the 21st of May, 
1S61, Richmond became the Confederate capital, and for 
four years was the prize for which the Northern army strug- 
gled, and at her gates some of the bloodiest battles of modern 
times were fought; but only a brief outline of these can be 
given in this book. 

QUESTIONS 

1. Tell what is said of Lincoln. 

2. What did he say in his inaugural address? 

3. For what purpose did the Confederates send commissioners to 
Washington? 

4. What assurances did they receive from Mr. Seward through 
Judge Campbell? 

5. What did the Lincoln administration do? 

6. What did the Confederate commissioners fear? 

7. What reply did Mr. Seward make to Judge Campbell when he 
asked for information? 

8. When was this? 

9. When did the Washington government notify Governor Pickens, 
of South Carolina, of its purpose to reinforce Sumter "by force if 
necessary?" , 

10. Where was the fleet then? 

11. What did the notice to Governor Pickens virtually amount to? 

12. What steps were taken by the Confederates to prevent the rein- 
forcements reaching Sumter? 

13. Tell of the bombardment and surrender. 

14. What was the effect on the North? 

15. What proclamation did Mr. Lincoln issue, and when? 

16. What four armies began to be organized, and v/here? 

17. Against what State were they to he directed? 

IS. How did the Confederates prepare to meet them? 
19. What city became the Confederate capital and what is said 
about it? 



OF Virginia and Virginians 19] 

SYNOPSIS FOR REVIEW 



Chapter XXII- — The Future Government. 

Virginia for Union. 

The Convention of 1787. 

The Virginia Convention. 

Washington, President. 

Thomas Jefferson. 

University of Virginia. 

Anecdotes of Jefferson. 

Declined a Third Term. 

Efforts to Explore the West. 

Lewis and Clarke's Expedition. 

Journey to the Pacific. 

Trial of Aaron Burr. 

Chief-Justice Marshall. 

Character of Judge Marshall. 

Anecdote of Judge Marshall. 
Chapter XXIII— Death of Henry and Washington. 

Presidents from Virginia. 

"The Era of Good Feeling." 

Burning of the Richmond Theatre — Servile Insur- 
rections. 

Sentiment in Virginia in Relation to Sla\-ery. 

The Slave Trade Encouraged by England. 

New England and the Sla\e Trade. 

The South Agricultural. 

Sentiment in Virginia at the Beginning of the Cen- 
tury. 

Emancipation of Slaves. 
V Responsibility for Slavery. 

The Refusal of the North to Surrender Fugitive 
Slaves. 

Slavery not an Unmixed Evil. 

The John Brown Raid. 

Brown's Act without Justification. 

Indignation of the People. 

Election of Lincoln. 

Virginia Seeks to Maintain Peace. 

President Lincoln's Call for Troops. 

Virginia's Answer. 
Chapter XXIV — Abraham Lincoln — His Inaugural Address. 

Note of Confederate Commissioners. 

Mr. Seward's Reply. 

A Change of Mind. 

A Declaration of War. 

Demand for the Evacuation of Sumter. 

Sumter Surrendered. 

Effect in the North. 

Lincoln's Call for Troops. 

Capital Removed to Richmond. 



192 



Young People's History 



CHAPTER XXV 



SOME EVENTS OF THE WAR IN VIRGINIA 




Big Bethel.— The first battle 
which occurred in Virginia was 
fought at Big Bethel, on the Pe- 
ninsula, June 10, 1 86 1, where 1,000 
Confederates, under General John 
B. Magruder, were attacked by 
3,000 Federals, belonging to the 
army of General B. F. Butler, 
commanding at Fortress Monroe. 
The Federals were repulsed with a 
loss of seventy-six men. The Con- 
federate loss was one killed and 
seven wounded. 

First Battle of Manassas. — Gen- 
eral Joseph E. Johnston was hold- 



ing 



Patterson's greater armv in 



THE BATTLE-FLAG 
OF THE CONFEDERACY 



check when he found that Mc- 
Dowell, with 



50,000 men, was advancing to attack 
Beauregard at Manassas Junction. Mak- 
ing a feint attack upon Patterson, John- 
ston joined his forces to Beauregard's, 
which were already engaged with the 
enemy, and fell upon McDowell July 21, 
1861, routing his great army, and driv- 
ing it in panic to Washington city. The 
whole Confederate army in this battle 
numbered 30,000 men. 

Adrance of McClellan. — McClellan succeeded McDowell in 




JOHN B. MAGRUDER 





ROBERT HDWARD LEE 



[ 193] 



194 



Young People's History 




command of the great army of the Union. He assembled 
110,000 men at Old Point early in 1862. Magruder, with 
1 1 ,000 Confederates, slowly retreated before 
him until Johnston came down with his 
army from Manassas, united his forces with 
Magruder's, checked the advance of McClel- 
lan at Williamsburg, and took position for 
the defence of Richmond. 

Battle of Seven Pines. — McClellan's 
great army was straddling the Chickahom- 
iny River, when Johnston fell upon it, and 
was in the act of destroying one wing of it ^ ^ ^ be\i i 1 \i d 
when he was struck down by grievous wounds. General 
Robert E. Lee succeeded him in command of the army. 
McClellan moved with great slowness and caution, awaiting 
reinforcements, for which he continuously called. 

Jackson's Valley Campaign. — These were prevented from 
reaching him by the terror inspired at Washington by the 
movements of Stonewall Jackson, who had been brilliantly 
successful in the Valley. In this campaign he successively 
defeated four armies under Milroy, Fre- 
mont, Banks and Shields. Jackson won 
every battle except the first, at Kerns- 
town, when he was repulsed by much 
superior forces under Shields. 

Battles Around Richmond. — Lee now 
called Jackson to join him. Their com- 
bined forces fell upon McClellan's army 
and defeated it successively at Mechan- 
icsville, Gaines' Mill, Savage Station, 
and Frazier's Farm. McClellan made 
his last stand at the strong position of Malvern Hill, where, 
on the evening of July ist, he repulsed Lee's assault ; but dur- 
ing the night he resumed his flight to the shelter of his fleet 
at Harrison's Landing, upon James River, many miles east 




JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON 




OF Virginia and Virginians 195 

of Richmond. These are called the Seven Days' Battles. 
General John Pope was then given command of the Army 
of the Potomac in place of McClellan. 

Second Manassas. — General Pope announced to his 
army "that his headquarters would be in his saddle, and 
that he was accustomed to see only the 
backs of his enemy." But, as Pope was 
of all men the most disbelieved, nobody 
was alarmed or surprised when, in a short 
time, Lee fell upon him just where a little 
over one year before Joe Johnston and 
Beauregard had so utterly routed Mc- 
Dowell, and drove Pope and his great 
army in panic and utter confusion back 
to Washington citv. 

° - GEO. B MCCLELLAN 

McClellan Again in Command. — Mc- 
Clellan was then again called to command the Army of the 
Potomac. In about one week he had restored its order, 
and marched to intercept Lee, who was in Maryland, threat- 
ening an invasion of Pennsylvania. Lee's orders for his 
proposed operations fell into McClellan's hands by some 
extraordinary mischance, and were of great value to him 
in guiding his movements. 

Capture of Harper's Ferry. — Lee sent Jackson to capture 
Harper's Ferry, which he did quickly, taking over 11,000 
prisoners and vast stores. By a forced march he rejoined 
Lee in time to take part in the battle that was impending. 

Battles of Boonsboro' and Sharpsburg. — Lee checked 
McClellan at Boonsboro', took position on the field of Sharps- 
burg, and, with less than 35,000 men, fought one of the 
fiercest battles of the great war against an army of over 
80,000 under one of the ablest of the Federal generals. A 
part of Jackson's troops, under A. P. Hill, did not reach the 
field from Harper's Ferry until the afternoon (September 17), 
while the battle was raging. The arrival of Hill's forces, 



i9^> 



Young People's History 




flushed with victory, decided the day. McClellan with- 
drew from the field, which Lee held unmolested for twenty- 
four hours, during which he buried the dead Confederates 
and Federals.* Having sent over the Potomac all of the 
rich stores gathered from Pennsylvania, his army recrossed 
that river unmolested by the enemy. The second day after, 
McClellan attempted to follow Lee, but was terribly repulsed 
at the river, and driven back into Maryland. A. P. Hill 
commanded the rear guard that in- 
flicted this defeat. Lee then rested 
his army in a pleasant camp near 
Winchester. 

Visit of British Officers. — A num- 
ber of British officers visited the 
Army of Northern Virginia at this 
time, and were much impressed by 
the greatness of Lee and his army. 
Lord Wolseley, since commander- 
in-chief of the British forces, a bril- 
liant writer, thus speaks of Lee: 
"Every injury that it was possible 
to inflict, the Northerners have 
heaped upon him. Nothwithstanding this, in speaking of 
them he neither evinced any bitterness of feeling nor gave 
utterance to a single violent expression. He spoke as a 
man proud of the victories won by his country, and confident 
of ultimate success, under the blessing of the Almighty." 
General Lee's Address. — Lee published the following 
grand address to his army and went into camp near Win- 
chester, where they all rested for many weeks: 

* On the evening of the battle Lee asked General Longstreet, "How has your 
corps fared to-day?" "The ground is covered by my dead and wounded. I have 
but a skirmish line left, and I hope you will cross into Virginia to-night." Lee then 
asked Jackson the same question, and received the same reply as to the condition of 
his corps, and as to the propriety of crossing the Potomac. He next asked Hill, and 
received a like answer. Lee then said, " Gentlemen, get in your stragglers ; be ready 
to renew the battle in the morning. I shall not cross the Potomac to-night. 



A. P. HILL 



OF Virginia and Virginians 197 

" In reviewing the achievements of the army during the present 
campaign, the commanding general cannot withhold the expression 
of his admiration of the indomitable courage it has displayed in battle 
and the cheerful endurance of privation and hardships on the march. 

"Since yotir great victories around Richmond you have defeated 
the enemy at Cedar Mountain, expelled him from the Rappahannock, 
and after a conflict of three days utterly repulsed him on the plains of 
Manassas and forced him to take shelter within the fortifications 
around his capital. Without halting for repose you crossed the 
Potomac, stormed the heights of Harper's Ferry, made prisoners 
of more than eleven thousand six hundred men, and captured upward 
of seventy pieces of artillery, all their small-arms and other munitions 
of war. While one corps of the army was thus engaged the other 
insured its success by arresting at Boonsboro' the combined armies 
of the enemy, advancing under their favorite general to the relief 
of their beleaguered comrades. 

"On the field of Sharpsburg, with less than one-third his numbers, 
you resisted from daylight until dark the whole army of the enemy, 
and repulsed every attack along his entire front of more than four 
miles in extent. 

The whole of the following day you stood ready to resume the con- 
flict on the same ground, and retired next morning without molesta- 
tion across the Potomac. 

"Two attempts subsequently made by the enemy to follow you 
across the river have resulted in his complete discomfiture and his 
being driven back with loss. Achievements such as these demanded 
much valor and patriotism. History records few examples of greater 
fortitude and endurance than this army has exhibited, and I am com- 
missioned by the President to thank you in the name of the Confederate 
States for the undying fame you have won for their arms. 

" Much as you have done, much more remains to be accomplished. 
The enemy again threatens us with invasion, and to j^our tried valor 
and patriotism the country looks with confidence for deliverance 
and safety. Your past exploits give assurance that this confidence 
is not misplaced. 

"R. E. Lee, 
' ' General Cojnmanding. 

McClellan Removed. — After his defeat at Sharpsburg 
McClellan, whom General Lee considered the ablest of the 
Federal generals, entered Virginia by way of Warrenton, 
where he received an order from Lincoln relieving him of 



198 Young People's History 

the command of the Arm}- of the Potomac. General Burn- 
side was appointed in his place. 

Battle of Fredericksburg. — Burnside made his advance 
upon Richmond by way of Fredericksburg, where Lee met 
him December 13, 1862. Burnside had 100,000 men. Lee 
with 60,000 men defeated him more completely than he 
had defeated his predecessors. Burnside lost nearly 15,000 
men, and with difficulty escaped across the Rappahannock 
River. It was a glorious battle to look upon— both armies 
were within full view of each other, and each could see every 
move of the other. Hooker was then appointed to take 
Burnside's place. 

Battle of Chancellorsville. — In May, 1863, was fought the 
most remarkable battle of the century. Hooker crossed the 
Rappahannock about twenty-five miles 
above Fredericksburg with 100,000 
men — as he said, "the finest army upon 
the planet." He had placed Sedgwick, 
with 25,000 men, upon the heights over- 
looking Fredericksburg, whence, as soon 
as the battle should be joined, he would 
fall upon Lee's right flank and rear. 
Lee's whole force amounted to 40,000 
men. He posted Early near Fredericks- 
burg, with 7,000 men, to hold Sedgwick 
in check, sent Jackson by a long detour of fifteen miles to 
fall upon the Federal's right, while he remained in their 
front with the rest of his army — some 12,000 men. 

Jackson's Flank Movement. — On the evening of May 
2d Jackson, having successfully completed his march around 
the Federals, wrote this, his last report, to Lee — 

"Near 3 P. M., May 2, 1S63. 
"General: The enemy has made a stand at Chancellor's, which 
is about two miles from Chancellorsville. I hope so soon as practi- 
cable to attack. 




OF Virginia and Virginians. 199 

"I trust that an ever kind Providence will bless us with success. 
" Respectfully, 

"T. J. Jackson, 
"General Robert E. Lee." "Lieutenant-General." 

"P. S. — The leading division is up, and the next two appear to 
bs well closed. T. J. J." 

Jackson fell like a thunderbolt upon Hooker's unsuspecting 
right and drove it in utter rout back upon Chancellorsville. 
By night Hooker was cut off from every ford of the river save 
one, and his whole army was in confusion and demoraliza- 
tion. The next morning Lee drove him from his position 
at the Chancellorsville House back toward United States 
ford, where Hooker halted and at once began to entrench 
himself. Lee drew his lines around him on all sides, leaving 
him no avenue of escape except by falling back across the 
river. He then turned his attention to Sedgwick, who had 
crossed the river at Fredericksburg, with 22,000 men, driven 
off the small force which held the heights at that place, and 
was now advancing on Chancellorsville. One division and a 
part of another, detailed from the army 
confronting Hooker, met and checked 
the column of Sedgwick, on Sunday 
afternoon, at Salem Church. Next day, 
Sedgwick was pushed back until dark- 
ness put an end to the conflict. Under 
cover of night Sedgwick recrossed the 
river at Bank's ford. Next morning 
Lee returned to Chancellorsville to 
^^7^^^^^ capture or destroy Hooker's army, but 

during the night that general had 

JOSEPH HOOKER ■ , i , . r 

withdrawn his entire force across the 
river; and "the greatest army on the planet" had given 
Lee the greatest victory of the century. 

Death of Jackson. — But it had been won at a fearful cost, 
for on the evening of May 2d, Stonewall Jackson, in the very 
moment of victory, had fallen by a shot from his own troops. 





GENERAL THOMAS J. (sTONEWALL) JACKSON 
(From a painting owned by Mrs. Jackson) 



[ 200 ] 



OF Virginia and Virginians 




■.:sfr3S;M: 



He was with difficulty borne from the field ; his litter-bearers 
were twice shot down, and he fell heavily, fatally injuring 
his lungs by the fall. He was taken to the house of Mr. 
Chandler, one mile from Guinea's Station, on the railroad 
between Richmond and Fredericksburg. As the house was 
already occupied by sick and wounded 
soldiers, Jackson was placed in an 
office in the yard, where he died Sun- 
day, May loth, the eighth day after 
his wounding. Lee wrote him: "Could 
I have directed events, I should have 
chosen for the good of the country, to 
have been disabled in 3'-our stead. I 
congratulate you upon the victory, 
which is due to your skill and en- 
^rgy-" Jackson, when he read it, - 
said: "General Lee should give the 
glory to God." 

Advance into Pennsylvania — Get- 
tysburg. — After defeating Hooker, 
Lee carried the war into Pennsylvania. 
Meade had succeeded Hooker in com- 
mand of the Army of the Potomac. 
Lee attacked him upon the heights 
of Gettysburg, and in a three 
days' battle was repulsed with p"^ 
great loss. This was the only 
defeat the Army of Northern ^""^^^'^ °^ 
Virginia ever received in four 
years of constant action. But its spirit was not broken, and 
it took up a position within a few miles of the Army of the 
Potomac and awaited attack; but no attack was made, and 
in ten days Lee recrossed the river with his army unmolested. 

War Again Transferred to Virginia. — Meade also moved 
down into Virginia and maneuvered against Lee, but accom- 




1 



THE STATE BY ENGLISH 



, j F.n TO 
AU^URERS 




202 Young People's History 

plished little or nothing. Once he crossed the Rapidan as 
if to give battle, but when Lee accepted the gage, he hastily 
retreated across the river. In the spring 
of 1864 General Grant, the ablest of 
all the Federal commanders, was ap- 
pointed lieutenant-general, given com- 
mand of all the Federal armies, and 
placed himself at the head of the Army 
of the Potomac. 

Grant's Wilderness Campaign. — 
Grant conducted his operations with 
E. PICKETT great daring and ability; he handled his 
immense armies in the difficult country as none of his prede- 
cessors had done. In every great battle Lee beat him, but 
Grant's heavy losses were quickly made good by fresh troops, 
although his killed and wounded numbered more than Lee's 
whole army. Froin the wilderness to the James River 
Grant lost over 80,000 men. At Cold Harbor he lost 13,000 
men, and his soldiers refused to fight any more. Soon after 
tliis battle Lincoln called his Cabinet together to consider 
the question of making peace. 

Siege of Petersburg. — Leaving the battlefield of Cold 
Harbor, Grant crossed the James and laid siege to Peters- 
burg. Lee promptly met him, and for many months longer 
kept up the hopes of the Confederacy by 
defending the town against every attack. 
The Cadets at New Market.— While 
Grant was fighting his way from the Rap- 
pahannock to the James, General Sigel with 
7,000 men advanced up the Valley of Vir- 
ginia. He was encountered near New 
Market, May 15, 1864, by General Breckin- 
ridge with about 4,000 Confederates. The breckinridge 
ground was quite open, and each army could see the extent 
of the other's line. Sigel enveloped both flanks of Breckin= 




OF Virginia and Virginians 



203 



ridge. The battalion of cadets from the Virginia Military- 
Institute, composed of youths under the military age, two 
hundred and thirty strong, occupied the center of the Con- 
federate line, in front of Sigel's artillery of nine guns. The 
fire of this battery was very heavy, and General Breckinridge 
ordered the cadets to take it. The little battalion moved 




GENERAL U. S. GRANT 



out as if on parade in a perfect line. The Federal guns 
poured grape and canister into them, and many were cut 
down, but their line never wavered. When a front man fell, 
his rear-rank man took his place. The Federals saw them 
draw nearer and nearer with wonder and admiration. At 
last they rushed with a yell upon the guns. Such boyish 



204 Young People's History 

voices were never before heard in battle. The cannoneers 
broke and fled; a few of the stoutest tried to stand to their 
guns, and were actually bayoneted by these brave boys, some 
of whom were only fourteen years of age and but five feet 
high. In all the war a charge like this was never seen. Gen- 
eral Breckinridge was a great man and a veteran of many 
hard-fought battles; but when the enemy broke and fled, he 
wept like a woman as he rode about the field where fifty of 
the brave boys lay dead or wounded. In all of the wars of 
America, no event has ever equalled this in splendid exhibi- 
tion of disciplined gallantry and pathetic interest. The eight 
cadets who had been killed were borne to the Institute by 
their sorrowing comrades, who have erected a monument 
over the graves where they sleep. James Barron Hope, one 
of Virginia's poets, has written some beautiful verses to per- 
petuate their fame. The sixty-second Virginia regiment, 
under their gallant colonel. Smith, veterans of many victo- 
ries, charged in line with the boys and shared the glory of 
the victory. 

Fall of Richmond. — General Grant continued to extend his 
lines around Petersburg with the view of cutting the railroads 
by which supplies were brought to Lee's army, which was 
now reduced to about 35,000 men, guarding entrenched lines 
over thirty-five miles in length. To foil this effort, Peters- 
burg and Richmond were abandoned on the 3d of April, 
1865. Lee's glorious army was reduced to 32,000 men, while 
Grant had under his orders 220,000. Lee moved off from 
Petersburg and endeavored to get to Danville, intending 
to unite his army with Johnston's in North CaroHna. Fail- 
ing in this because the supplies which he had ordered to be 
sent to Amelia Courthouse had by some blunder been sent 
on to Richmond, he endeavored to get to Lynchburg to 
protract the struggle in the mountainous country 

Surrender at Appomattox. — Beset and overwhelmed, and 
without supplies, he reached Appomattox with only 8,800 



OF Virginia and Virginians 



205 



armed men, the survivors of the grand Army of Northern 
Virginia. These Lee surrendered to Grant upon the 9th 
of April, 1865, and the great War Between the States was 
ended in Virginia and virtually in every other State. 

The Confederate Ironclad Virginia. — When the Federals 
evacuated Norfolk they destroyed the works and vessels 
at the navy yard, including the frigate Merrimac, which they 
sunk. The Confederates raised, repaired, and converted her 




VALENTINE S RECUMBENT STATUE OF LEE AT LEXINGTON 



into a powerful ironclad ram according to a plan furnished 
by Colonel John M. Brooke, of the Virginia Military Institute. 
She was then renamed the Virginia. On March 8, 1862, as 
soon as completely ready for action, she steamed down to 
attack the Federal fleet, then lying in Hampton Roads, con- 
sisting of six Federal frigates and twelve gunboats. All fled 
save the ^Cumberland and Congress, which could not escape. 
The Virginia struck the Cumberland with her steel ram, 
knocking a great hole in her side ; but her men stood bravely 
to their guns while the ship was sinking. At the last mo- 



2o6 Young People's History 

ment the captain ordered his crew to leap overboard. The 
order was given none too soon, for she quickly went down 
with her flag flying, carrying the wounded men of her crew. 
The Virginia's steel beak was wrenched ofT and went down 
in the Cumberland. The Beaitfort, Captain Parker, and the 
Raleigh, Captain Alexander, each with one gun, engaged the 
Congress. That ship endeavored to get away, but could not, 
and, 'after great loss, ran up the white flag, which was the 
sign of surrender. While the white flag was flying and our 
boats were removing from the Congress the prisoners, they 
were fired upon by the Federal troops upon the shore. 
Admiral Buchanan, Lieutenant Minor and Colonel John Tay- 
lor Wood were severely wounded. Then the Virginia re- 
opened fire with hot shot upon the Congress and sunk her. 
In trying to escape the Minnesota ran aground' beyond the 
range of the Virginia's guns. 

Fight With the Monitor. — Next morning the Monitor, a 
newly-invented, ironclad, turreted gunboat, arrived from 
New York, and, after a brief battle with the Virginia, ran 
oft' into shallow water, where the Virginia could not get at 
her. As there was no enemy to fight, and as the Virginia 
was leaking badly from the break made when her beak was 
wrenched off, she went back to Norfolk to procure a better 
ram. In about five weeks she returned to attack the Federal 
fleet, then bombarding Sewell's Point. On seeing her ap- 
proach, the whole fleet of six frigates and three ironclads 
fled again to shoal water, under the protection of the guns of 
Fortress Monroe. The Virginia steamed about in the deep 
water as near to the Federal ships as she could get, and dared 
them to come out, but they would not venture. Then 
Commodore Tatnall sent the Jamestown and Raleigh to 
capture three transports which had, like the Federal fleet, 
run under the protection of the heavy batteries. Lieutenants 
Barney and Alexander accomplished this so bravely that, as 
they came by the French and British men-of-war with their 



OF Virginia and Virginians 



207 



prizes, they were cheered. Every day for many days the 
Virginia came down into Hampton Roads to offer battle to 
the Federal fleet. But neither the Monitor nor any other 
ship would venture out. After the evacuation of Norfolk 
the Virginia was destroyed in May, 1862, by Admiral Tatnall, 
as she drew too much water to be carried up James River, 
A few years after the war the crew of the Monitor claimed 
$200,000 prize money for destroying the Virginia. The 




THE SINKING OF THE CUMBERLAND 



House of Representatives passed the bill, but on receiving a 
statement of the facts from the Southern Historical Society, 
the Senate refused to agree to it. But ever since the war the 
impression has been made by Northern historians that great 
glory was won by the Monitor. The Cumberland had done 
more harm to the Virginia than all others, for she had, unin- 
tentionally it is true, carried off the steel beak of the Vir- 
ginia, and then her captain (Morris) and all of his crew stood 



208 



Young People's History 



at their posts firing her guns until their ship went down, but 
with her colors flying. 

Brandy Station. — The greatest cavalry battle of modern 
times was at Brandy Station. It raged from sunup to sun- 
down on a June day in 1863. General Stuart completely de- 
feated the Federals and drove them back to their infantry lines. 

Capacity of the 
People for S e 1 f - 
Government.- One 

year after the War 
Between the States 
broke out, one of 
the most remark- 
able illustrations of 
the capacity of our 
people for self-gov- 
ernment that has 
ever been known 
was manifested. 
The Army of 
Northern Virginia 
and the Army of 
Tennessee had 
been in active ser- 
vice for one year, 
when a reorganiza- 
tion of the Confederate armies was ordered. In May, 1862, 
the Army of Northern Virginia was confronting a Federal 
army of three times its force, when the new election of 
regimental officers was held right in the presence of the 
enemy. Many were apprehensive as to the results of such a 
change of authority under circumstances so critical. It was 
feared lest officers who had strictly done their duty and en- 
forced discipline should be thrown out of office and others 
who had been electioneering for their places be chosen. Such 




J. E. B. STUART 




[ 209 



2IO Young People's History 

fears were groundless to a great extent. There was but 
little excitement over the election, and but few changes 
were made, and the grandest achievements of the army 
followed this unusual event. 

Our Private Soldiers. — This is not to be wondered at 
when we consider the nature of our army — unlike the regular 
armies of other countries. The rank and file was composed 
largely of gentlemen of good breeding and education. When 
the Rockbridge Artillery marched from Lexington to the 
army, twenty-eight college graduates were mounted upon its 
horses and limber-boxes, and one company of infantry from 
the Northern Neck of Virginia had sixteen graduates of 
the Virginia Military Institute in its ranks. 

The Virginia Military Institute. — This admirable school 
was of inestimable value to Virginia in the war, as it has 
been for so many years in the peaceful progress of our State. 
The Army of Northern Virginia was largely officered and 
educated by the alumni of this school, and over 250 of its 
graduates were killed in battle — more than the United States 
Academy at West Point has ever so lost. 

The Army of Northern Virginia. — Under General Joe John- 
ston and General Lee, the Army of Northern Virginia was 
always victorious. It never lost a battle in Virginia. The 
historiati of the Army of the Potomac, an Englishman, Mr. 
Swinton, says of it: "Nor can there fail to arise the image 
of that other army that was the adversary of the Army of 
the Potomac, and which, who can ever forget that once 
looked upon it ? That array of ' tattered uniforms and bright 
muskets' — that body of incomparable infantry, the Army 
of Northern Virginia, which for four years carried the 
revolt on its bayonets, opposing a constant front to the 
mighty concentration of power brought against it; which, 
receiving terrible blows, did not fail to give the like, and 
which, vital in all parts, perished only with its annihilation." 



OF Virginia and Virginians 



QUESTIONS 



1. Where was the first battle fought in Virginia? 

2. Who were the Confederate generals, and who the Federal 
general commanding at the first battle of Manassas? 

3. Who took command of the Federal army after that rout? 

4. Where did he assemble his army, and what were its numbers? 

5. Who checked him on the Peninsula? 
G. What other check did he receive? 

7. Tell of the battle of Seven Pines. 

8. Of Jackson's Valley campaign. 

9. Who commanded in the battles around Richmond? 

10. Name some of the battle-fields. 

11. Who succeeded McClellan? What battle did he fight, and 
with what result? 

12. To what State did General Lee transfer the war? 

13. What battles were fought there? 

14. )What important capture made? 

15. "Who commanded the Federal army at Sharpsburg? 

16. What did General Lee do after that battle? 

17. Who visited him at this time? 

18. What does Lord Wolseley say of him? 

19. What does General Lee say in his address to his army? 

20. What Federal general commanded at the battle of Fredericks- 
burg? 

21. Tell about the battle of Chancellors ville. 

22. What great loss did the Confederates sustain in that battle? 

23. Where did General Lee now carry the war? 

24. What great battle was fought there, and with what result? 

25. What Federal general commanded at Gettysburg? 

26. By whom was he relieved? 

27. What is said of Grant's Wilderness campaign? 

28. What city did Grant lay siege to? 

29. Where, when, and by whom was the battle of New Market 
fought? 

30. Tell the story of the cadets. 

31. When was Richmond evacuated? 

32. What were the respective numbers of the two armies? 

33. Where and when did Lee surrender, and how many men had he? 

34. What was the Virginia ? 

35. Tell of her attack on Federal vessels and the result. 

36. Describe her battle with the Monitor. 

37. Tell of the capture of the transports. 

38. What impression has been made by Northern historians as 
to the battle between the Virginia and Monitor? 

39. Who fought the battle of Brandy Station, and what is said of it? 

40. What illustration was given of the capacity of the people for 
self-government ? 

41. What is said of the Confederate private soldier? 

42. Can you repeat what Mr. Swinton says of the Army of Northern 
Virginia? 



Young People's History 



CHAPTER XXVI 

THE CRUEL CONDUCT OF THE WAR MEDICINES CONTRABAND DESTRUC- 
TION OF PRIVATE PROPERTY HUNTEr's VANDALISM DAHLGREn'S 

RAID RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE SUFFERING OF PRISONERS TREAT- 
MENT OF PRESIDENT DAVIS. 

Harsh Measures. — The war had been conducted with 
extraordinary cruelty by the Lincohi government; the negro 
slaves had been set free and armed against us, when Mr. 
Lincoln was informed that Queen Victoria w^ould recognize 
the independence of the Confederate States unless the slaves 
were freed. 

Medicines and Medical Supplies Contraband.— The in- 
troduction of medicines and medical supplies, surgical instru- 
ments, etc., was prohibited — a cruel war measure, never 
before enforced by a civilized nation, save by the Duke of 
Wellington when commanding the British army in Spain. 

The Valley Devastated. — General Sheridan, command- 
ing in the Valley near the close of the war, boasted that he 
had so laid waste and devastated that rich and fertile region 
that "a crow flying over it would have to carry its rations." 

Sherman's Brutalities. — Sherman's march from Atlanta 
to the sea and from Savannah to North Carolina was lighted 
by the flames of burning homesteads and disgraced by insults 
and indignities heaped upon defenceless non-combatants, 
women, and children. He justified his action by saying: 
"We are fighting not only hostile armies, but a hostile peo- 
ple, and must make old and young, rich and poor, feel the 
hard hand of war." 

Hunter's Vandalism. — General David Hunter, a Virginian 
by birth, commanded an army which ravaged his native 
State and destroyed the homes of his kindred, amongst whom 




OF Virginia and Virginians 213 

he had been born and reared. He moved along his course 
unopposed, and, among other barbarities, burned the build- 
ings and scientific apparatus of the Virginia Military Insti- 
tute, and the private residence of Governor Letcher. Gene- 
ral Jubal Early, ever ready in such an 
emergency, moved rapidh^ to Lynch- 
burg, met Hunter's army in the suburbs 
of the city and drove it in rout out of 
the State. In March, 1894, that brave, 
devoted and able Virginia soldier was 
laid to his rest. His grave lies across 
the very spot where his line of battle 
lay that evening when he defeated 
Hunter and saved Lynchburg. Hunter jubal a. early 

was pursued and constantly attacked 

by General McCausland and others until he made his escape 
into West Virginia in a pitiable plight. 

Dahlgren's Raid. — While Kilpatrick was conducting a 
raid through Virginia in 1864. he detached Colonel Ulric 
Dahlgren, with about 100 men, to make a rush into Rich- 
mond — then apparently unguarded — to liberate the pris- 
oners (some 20,000), murder the President and other officials 
of the government and do all the harm possible to the city. 
The home guards turned out very prompth^ and met the 
murderous band at Westham, about five miles from Rich- 
mond. The Federals were defeated and driven off down 
toward King and Queen county, where a company of home 
guards and furloughed men encountered them. Dahlgren 
and others were killed and his whole command routed. 
Upon Dahlgren's body were found his orders in his own 
handwriting, which were photographed and sent to the 
Federal government. General Meade, who was a gentleman 
of honorable character, denied all responsibility for this 
incendiary and inhuman expedition, one result of which was 
the transfer of all of the prisoners from Richmond to Ander- 



214 



Young People's History 



sonville prison, already overcrowded and suffering from 
scanty rations. 

The Suffering of Prisoners.— The South has been often 
most unjustly charged with cruelty to Northern prisoners. 
The exchange of prisoners was stopped by the Lincoln govern- 
ment, and the Confederates made every effort to have it 
renewed. The retention of Confederate prisoners was a 
war measure intended to weaken the Southern armies; for, 
with her smaller population and cut off from the rest of the 
world by the blockade of her ports, when her soldiers were 




OLD LIBBY PRISON 

captured the South had no others to take their places, and 
Mr. Stanton is reported to have said, "It is cheaper to feed 
them than to fight them." Not so with the North, which had 
not only her own population of 20,000,000, but the world 
from which to hire soldiers. The Federal soldiers in our 
hands fared just as our soldiers did, receiving the same rations. 
Under the conditions under which they necessarily lived, 
many thousands died, as was also the case in Northern 
prisons. After the order to shorten their rations, the suffer- 



OF Virginia and Virginians 



15 



ing captives at Andersonville were permitted to elect three 
of their number to go to President Lincohi and represent 
their condition, President Davis having paroled them for 
that purpose; but they had to return to their prison and to 
their anxious, sick, and suffering com- 
rades with the report that Mr. Lincoln, 
though informed of their ob- 
ject, refused to see them. 
Then President Davis offered 
to release 10,000 prisoners 
from Andersonville, with or 
without exchange, and Pres- 
ident Lincoln failed for three 
months to send for them. 
The Lincoln government was 
responsible for the suffering 
of every prisoner who lan- 
guished, sickened, and died 
in a Southern or a Northern 
prison. These facts are re- 
lated because even now, 
when the whole record is 
open to the world, this 
charge of cruelty is fre 
quently repeated 
against the South. 

The Treatment 
of President Da- 
vis. — A few days 
after the war 
closed, Mr. Lincoln 
was assassinated 

by Booth, who was in no sense a Southern man — an act which 
was condemned as truly in the South as in the North; yet 
the assassination of Lincoln was made the pretext for infiict- 




LEE MONUMENT, RICHMOND, VA. 



ii6 



Young People's History 



ing the most inhuman cruelties upon President Davis. A 
proclamation was issued offering $100,000 for his capture. 
He was arrested in Georgia and brought to Fortress Monroe, 
where he was ironed and imprisoned in a damp, dark casemate, 
deprived of all books and papers, and guarded constantly 
by soldiers. Two years later, after Chief-Justice Chase and 
other eminent lawyers had given their opinion that he could 

b e convicted of no 
crime, he was released 
on bail, broken in 
health, but u n c o n - 
quered in spirit. 

General Grant. — 

General Grant, who 
was naturally a very 
kind-hearted m a n 
and who, by reason 
of his great bravery 
and abilit}'-, was more 
powerful than all of 
the politicians, is en- 
titled to the credit of 
protecting Lee, John- 
ston, and the rest of 
the Confederate lead- 
ers. Grant ever 
showed kindly feeling 
to those in his power, and not one single act of cruelty or 
harshness to our unfortunate people was ever charged against 
him. He showed every consideration for Lee's feelings when 
he received the surrender of his army at Appomattox; and 
for the wants of the captured Confederates, to whom he had 
rations issued from his own supplies; and he also permitted 
them to keep their horses, that they might be able to begin 
again to work their farms. Where truth compels so many 




A. p. HILL MONUMENT, NEAR RICHMOND, VA. 



OF Virginia and Virginians 217 

cruelties to be narrated, it is pleasant to be able to record 
this example of magnanimity and humanity. 

The Other Side. — But cruel as war is, it sometimes shows 
how noble and unselfish men can be. Colonel John Haskell, 
of South Carolina, was so severely wounded in his arm that 
amputation was necessary, and the surgeons prepared to 
administer chloroform to him. "Stop, doctor; since Lincoln 
has made medicines 'contraband of war,' you have very 
little chloroform?" "Yes, colonel; that is so." "Then, 
doctor, I will stand the operation without it ; keep the chloro- 
form for some soldier whose need is greater than mine." 
Another noble example of generosity and unselfishness was 
General M. C. Butler, also of South Carolina. During the 
great cavalry fight at Brandy Station he and Captain Farley, 
whom he had seen that morning for the first time, were 
side by side when a cannon ball came bounding at them. The 
ball cut off Butler's leg, and, passing through his horse, cut 
off Farley's leg. As they lay upon the ground, Butler, with 
his handkerchief, tried to staunch the bleeding, and called 
to Farley to do the same. The surgeon and other officers 
came running to Butler's help, when he, observing Farley's 
struggling horse was about to crush him, cried: "No, gentle- 
men; go to Farley. He needs you more than I do." Thus 
you see, my young friends, how in war the "bravest are the 
tenderest." 

QUESTIONS 

1. How was the war conducted on the part of the Northern gov- 
ernment? 

2. What articles were forbidden to be introduced into the South? 

3. Had this ever been done before? 

4. What is said of the devastation of the .Valley? 

5. Of Sherman's march to the sea? 

6. Who was General Hunter, and what was his method of making 
war ? 

7. Who drove him out of Virginia? 

8. Tell of Dahlgren 's raid. 

9. What written orders were foimd on his person when he was 
killed? 

10. With what has the South been charged in reference to prisoners? 



2i8 Young People's History 

11. Why is she not blamable? 

12. Where does the responsibihty rest for the suffering of prisoners, 
both Federal and Confederate" 

13. Why? 

14. What is said of the treatment of President Davis? 

15. Why was he released? 

16. Who protected the Confederate generals after the surrender? 

17. What is said of his character? 

18. Relate the incident of Colonel Haskell. 

19- Tell about General Butler and Captain Farley. 




GREAT SEAL OF THE CO^jFEDERACY 



OF Virginia and Virginians 



219 



CHAPTER XXVII 



CONDITION OF VIRGINIA- 
SIGN OF THE STATE— 



-ENFRANCHISEMENT OF THE NEGROES DIVI- 

/IRGINIa's PROGRESS CONFEDERATE MONU- 



Condition of Virginia at the Close of the War. — The con- 
dition of Virginia at the close of the war was desperate. 
Many of our able-bodied men were dead or crippled, or 



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S^A-^ 


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THE HOME-COMING AFTER THE WAR 

starving and dying in Northern prisons, or lying in unmarked 
graves about them. In every county of the State, oflEicers 
of the United States with soldiers were stationed as a police 
force over our people. The negroes, just emancipated, 
rioted in their new found importance, and in many instances 
delighted to insult and injure their former owners. Some- 
times the provost-marshal was a gentleman, and did what 
he could to protect the whites from this cruelty; but often- 



Young People's History 




times his sympathy was with the negroes. The whole State 
was tinder bayonet rule. No Confederate was allowed to 
engage in business of any sort until he had taken the oath 
of allegiance to the government which had 
conquered us with so much cruelty. 

Enfranchisement of the Negroes. — 
While the white people of Virginia, who 
had acted so bravely, were thus humiliated 
and deprived of all voice in the conduct of 
the affairs of Virginia, the negroes were 
soon allowed to vote and hold office. With 
them were joined white adventurers from 
the North, known as "carpet-baggers," 
who came down to share in what spoils 
were left by the war. These were called 
carpet-baggers because they had no inter- 
est and no property in the State except 
such as they brought in their travelling 
satchels, and were supposed to come to se- 
cure what plunder they could and then 
return to the North with it. To these 
were joined a more unfortunate class still, 
who, born and reared amongst us, and in 
a few shameful instances of the better class 
of native Virginians, sought to win pard-on 
and favor from our conquerors by joining 
in this degrading oppression of their own 
people. These were known as "scala- 
wags." 
Division of the State.— West 
CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS' AND Virginia had been cut off from 
SAILORS MONUMENT, RICH- Virginia duriug the war and made 

MONO, VA. - , , oj_ j_ • • 1 J.- 

into a separate State m violation 
of the Constitution. This reduced the whole population of 
old Virginia to 1,221;, 163. Of these 712,089 were whites and 




OF Virginia and Virginians 221 

513,074 negroes. In the cities of Richmond, Lynchburg, 
Petersburg, and Norfolk the negroes equalled or probably 
exceeded the whites in numbers. 

Self -Control of the People.— Quietly and with determina- 
tion the people of Virginia went to work to repair their 
fortunes and upbuild the State. They endured for years 
the rule of the bayonet, and the insolence of Governor 
Fierpoint and the military governors appointed to rule over 
her, of the freedman's agents and of carpet-baggers and 
negroes who thrust themselves into every office, until at last 
she was permitted to elect a governor and General Assembly. 
Then she chose for governor Gilbert C. Walker, who had come 
down from New York as an officer of the Federal army, and 
by his good judgment made friends of the Virginians. He 
was able to protect Virginia and advance her public interests 
as no native-born Virginian could then have done. When 
Governor Walker's term of office expired, General Kemper, 
one of the noblest of Virginia's sons, was elected in his place. 

Virginia's Progress. — Under local administrations Vir- 
ginia has steadily advanced in prosperity and power. The 
great .pubHc debt of the State has been adjusted. Her 
mines and her factories, her commerce, her institutions of 
learning, and her systems of public schools, have grown and 
prospered. The constitution which was made while the 
carpet-baggers were in power has been revised and made 
satisfactory to the people. 

The Capitol Disaster. — During Governor Walker's ad- 
ministration a disaster occurred only paralleled by the burning 
of the theatre in 181 1. April 27, 1870, an immense crowd 
had assembled in the chamber of the Court of Appeals, on 
the third floor of the Capitol, to hear the decision of the 
court in an election case involving the title to the mayoralty 
of the city of Richmond. Just as the judges were about to 
enter the courtroom, the floor gave way, precipitating the 
dense crowd to the floor below. Sixty-five persons, some of 



Young People's History 



them prominent in public and private life, were killed, and 
more than two hundred injured were rescued from the ruins. 

Our Monuments. — Beautiful monuments to our great 
dead have been erected in our public places. The British 
admirers of Stonewall Jackson have erected a monument 

to him in our Capitol 
Square, and caused two 
large gold medals to be 
annually presented to 
the first and second 
graduates of the Virginia 
Military Institute, in 
which school Jackson 
was a professor. The 
beautiful recumbent 
statue of Lee, which 
Valentine executed, is 
over his grave in the 
chapel at Washington 
and Lee University. 
This fine work is not 
surpassed even by the 
statue of Jefferson by 
the same artist. The 
statues of General A. P. 
Hill, of the Young How- 
itzer, and of the Soldiers' 
and Sailors' monument, 
all by Sheppard, attest 
the skill and genius of 
our native artists. The equestrian statue of Lee, which has 
been erected at the end of Franklin street, Richmond, exe- 
cuted by the French sculptor Mercie, does not convey a 
pleasing impression of our great chief to many of those who 
followed him so long and who will ever carrv in their mem- 




VALENTINE S STATUE OF JEFFERSON 



OF Virginia and Virginians 



223 



ories and hearts his grand image. In many of the counties 
of the State beautiful monuments have been erected at the 
county-seats, on which are inscribed the names of their sons 
who fell during the war. These are, for the most part, trib- 
utes from the noble women of Virginia to those who died in 
their defence. 

QUESTIONS 

1. Tell of the condition of Virginia at the close of the war. 

2. How was the State governed? 

3. What class was soon allowed to vote and hold office? 

4. What were those who joined them from the North called? 

5. How had the territory of Virginia been reduced? 

6. What is said of their self-control? 

7. Who was the first governor elected by the people? 

8. Who have succeeded him in that office? 

9. Tell of Virginia's progress since the war. 
10. What monuments have been erected? 




CONFF.nERATE MONUMENT 
AT RICHMOND 



224 Young People's History 



CHAPTER XXVIII 

THE VIRGINIANS THE FIRST SETTLERS CLASS DISTINCTIONS WHAT 

VIRGINIANS HAVE ACCOMPLISHED 

The Development of the Virginians.— The extraordinary 
conduct and character of the Virginians are partly attribu- 
table to the nature of our first settlers; but still more to the 
changed conditions in which they were placed when they made 
their homes over here. They were not forced out of England 
because of their religious belief or other objectionable pecu- 
liarities, but came freely and eagerly in search of fortune 
and adventure, as we have seen in this day California, Aus- 
tralia, and South Africa colonized and built up into great 
communities by the same influences. 

The First Settlers. — In the first settlement of Jamestown, 
Smith complained that half his men were "gentlemen," 
which in that day was a distinctive designation of the class 
of Englishmen whose condition and rearing exempted them 
from the drudgery of manual labor. At first these gentle- 
men did not know how to work, but they were soon compelled 
to do their share of what was necessary. They soon became 
the best workmen, as well as the most intelligent. As, in 
course of a few years, the colony grew and prospered, more 
of this class were invited to make their homes in Virginia. 

Royalists. — Many of the Royalists who came over after 
the execution of King Charles I, as you have seen, were of 
the gentry. There came with them their retainers and ser- 
vants, who had been their hereditary tenants, and who had 
been their comrades and followers in the fierce war for the 
rights of the king. Negro slavery in time created a distinctly 
menial class for the wealthy planters, while the less prosperous 
whites became managers on the plantations or small farmers 



OF Virginia and Virginians 



!2S 



-The 



of the Revolution 



and tenants. They were on friendly terms with their wealthy 
neighbors, whose equals they were in birth; they were also 
companions in their sports and comrades in the frequent 
wars with the Indians. 

Class Distinctions Abolished.- 

did much to remove all 
class distinctions in Vir- 
ginia. Jefferson's Decla- 
ration of Independence, 
his bill abolishing the old 
English laws of entail 
and primogeniture, and 
his bill for religious free- 
dom, all combined to 
sweep away class dis- 
tinctions and make Vir- 
ginia one great and 
friendly community of 
proud and independent 
white men. If any 
trace of unfriendliness 
between the rich and 
poor remained among 
us, our last great war 
forever swept it away. 
For four long years the 
rich man's son and the 
poor man's son stood 
shoulder to shoulder, 
enduring the same pri- 
vations, encountering together the same dangers, sleeping 
together, eating together, and fighting together for the same 
principles. They together present to the world to-day a har- 
monious and self-respecting community such as can be found 
in no other country. 




STATUE OF HENRY CLAY AT RICHMOND 



226 Young People's History 

What Virginians Have Accomplished. — I hope I have 
made you see, my young Virginia friends, how a few dozen 
of Englishmen, moved by the love of empire and the daring 
adventure of their race, settled upon an unhealthy island of 
Virginia, and have, by an unparalleled energy and wisdom, 
extended their power over this continent. Their descendants 
have in 200 years added to the territory of the United States 
all of that region which stretches from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific, from the Potomac to the Rio Grande. 

General George Rogers Clarke, of Albemarle county, con- 
quered from England the Northwest territory, which now 
contains the States of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, 
and part of Michigan. Virginia prohibited the introduction 
of slavery into any part of it, and at the close of the Revolu- 
tion gave it for the common property of the United States. 

Captains Lewis and Clarke, of the same county in Vir- 
ginia, explored the vast region between the Mississippi and 
Pacific Ocean. 

President Jefferson, in 1803, purchased from Napoleon 
the French province of Louisiana, divided now into many 
States. 

President Monroe, of Westmoreland county, in 182 1, 
bought Florida, now divided between Florida, Georgia, 
Alabama, and Mississippi. In 1836 General Sam Houston, 
of Rockbridge county, conquered Texas from Mexico. In 
1844 Texas made application for admission into the United 
States, and it was admitted in December, 1845. In 1846 
Generals Taylor and Scott, of Virginia, overcame Mexico 
in many battles, and New Mexico, Arizona, and CaHfornia 
were added to our territory by treaty at the close of the war. 

Dr. Thomas Walker, of Albemarle county, in 1750, first 
explored and named the Cumberland River and moun- 
tains, after the Duke of Cumberland. He and five com- 
panions were absent on this expedition six months. They 
killed many buffalo, elk, deer, and bear, and went across 



OF Virginia and Virginians 227 

the Cumberland to the headwaters of the Kentucky River, 
which gave its name to that State. 

Daniel Boone, a boy from the Yadkin River, North Caro- 
lina, in 1769, was the first to lead the way into Kentucky 
and lay the foundations of that State. John Sevier, a 
Huguenot from the Shenandoah Valley, went to the Watauga 
settlement (then supposed to be in Virginia) and became 
the founder and first governor of the State of Tennessee. 
James Robertson, born in Brunswick county, established 
the first permanent settlements on the Cumberland River. 

Virginia gave seven presidents to the United States, and 
Generals Joe Johnston, R. E. Lee, and Stonewall Jackson 
to the Southern Confederacy. 

Matthew Fontaine Maury, who marked out the tracks 
of speed and safety for mariners of every clime over the 
ocean's bosom, and showed the beds on the bottom of the 
seas where the telegraph now safely 
lies, of whom the officers of all mari- 
time nations came to learn, on whom 
kings and emperors bestowed orders, 
medals, and decorations, and of whom 
the great Humboldt said "he created 
a new science," was a Virginia boy, bom 
in the county of Spotsylvania. 

Well might the great Georgian, Senator 

TT-i, -1 , r.-KT . -, , -, MATTHEW F.MAURY 

Hill, declare, No country m the world 

has ever produced so many men so great as Virginia has." 

And Lord Chatham, the greatest of England's prime 
ministers, in considering the work of that first American 
Congress, of which George Washington, Edmund Pendleton, 
Richard Henry Lee, and Patrick Henry were the guiding 
spirits, declared "it is doubtful if in the history of mankind 
any body of men equal to these has ever existed." 

Let the mothers of Virginia impress these great truths 
upon their children's minds, that they may ever through 




2^8 Young People's History 

life remember "the breed of noble bloods" from whom 
their race has sprung, and strive to be worthy of them. For 
it was their mothers who most influenced the lives and 
characters of the great men of our State, who trained them 
in the path of duty, who taught them to love God, speak 
the truth, and ever to fight for principle and right. 

Let them forget, if they can, that this great country, 
thus created and guided by Virginia, ever turned upon her 
the cruelties of internecine strife and rent her in twain. 
And when next the men of Virginia and the men of the North 
stand in line of battle, may they stand shoulder to shoulder 
against some common foe. 

QUESTIONS 

1. To what are the conduct and character of the Virginians to 
be attributed? 

2. What was the character of the first settlers? 

3. Who were the RoyaUsts? 

4. Why did they come to Virginia? 

5. What acts did much to destroy class distinction in Virginia? 

6. Who was their author? 

7. What still further tended to that end? 

8. What is said of the Virginians of to-day? 

9. How did the United States acquire the Northwest territory? 

10. Who first explored the territory between the Rocky Mountains 
and the Pacific? 

11. How did the United States acquire Louisiana? 

12. Florida? 

13. Who conquered Texas? 

14. What generals commanded in the Mexican war? 
• 15. What territory was acquired? 

16. Who first explored the Cumberland River and Mountains? 

17. Who laid the foundations of the State of Kentvicky? 

18. What can you tell of John Sevier? 

19. Of James Robertson? 

20. How many presidents has Virginia given to the country? 

21. What prominent generals did she give to the Confederacy? 

22. What can you tell of Matthew F. Maviry? 

23. AVhat did Senator Hill, of Georgia, declare? 

24. What did Lord Chatham say of the first American Congress? 

25. What should be the aim of the Virginians of to-day? 



OF Virginia and Virginians 229 

SYNOPSIS FOR REVIEW 



Chapter XXV— Battle of Bethel — First Battle of Manassas. . 
Advance of McClellan — Battle of Seven Pines. 
Jackson's Valley Campaign. . ~ 

Battles Around Richmond — Second Manassas. 
Capture of Harper's Ferry. 
Battles of Boonsboro' and Sharpsburg. , 

Visit of British Ofticers. 
General Lee's Address. 
McClellan Removed. 
Battle of Fredericksburg. 
Battle of Chancellors^•ille. 
Jackson's Flank Movement. 
Death of Jackson. 

Advance into Pennsylvania — Gettysbvirg. 
War Again Transferred to Virginia. 
Grant's Wilderness Campaign. 
Siege of Petersburg. 
The Cadets at New Market. 
Fall of Richmond. 
Surrender at Appomattox. 
The Confederate Iron-clad Virginia. 
Battle with the Monitor. 
Battle of Brandy Station. 
Capacity of the People for Self-Govemmcnt. 
The Private Soldier — The Virginia Military In- 
stitute. 
The Army of Northern Virginia. 
Chapter XXVI — Harsh Measures. 

Medicines Contraband. 
Sherman's Brutalities. 
The Valley Devastated. 
Hunter's Burnings. 
Dahlgren's Raid. 
The Sufferings of Prisoners. 
The Treatment of President Davis. 
General Grant. 
Chapter XXVII — Condition of Virginia at the Close of the War. 
Enfranchisement of the Negroes. 
Division of the State. 
Self-Control of the People. 
Virginia's Progress 
Our Monuments. 
Chapter XXVIII — The Development of the Virginians. 
The First Settlers. 
Royalists. 

Class Distinctions Abolished. 
What Virginians Have Accomplished. 



230 Young People's History 



List of those who have filled the Executive 
Office in Virginia from 1606 to 1904 



1606. — Sir Thomas Smyth, or Smith, first President of the Council 
of the London Company and its Treasurer. 

1607, April 26. — Captain Edward Maria Wingfield, President of 
the Council in Virginia. 

1607, September 10. — Captain John Ratcliflfe, President of the 
Council in Virginia. 

1608, September 7. — Captain John Smith, President of the Council 
in Virginia. 

(1609, May 23.— Sir Thomas West, Earl De La Warr, or Delaware, 
appointed "Governor and Captain-General"; did not reach the colony 
until June 10, 1610, the resident Executives in the interim being as 
follows ;) 

1609, August — . — Captain George Percy, President of the Council 
in Virginia. 

1610, May 23. — Sir Thomas Gates, Lieutenant-General and Deputy 
Governor. 

1610, June 10. — Earl De La Warr, Governor and Captain-General. 

1611, March 2S.^Captain Georije Percv, President of the Council. 
1611, May 19.— Sir Thomas D^ale, "High Marshal" and Acting 

Governor. 

161 1,_ August — . — Sir Thomas Gates, Acting Governor. 
1613, March — . — Sir Thomas Dale, Acting Governor. 

1616, April — . — Captain George Yeardley, Deputy or Lieutenant- 
Governor. 

1617, May 15. — Captain Samuel Argall, Deputy or Lieutenant- 
Governor. 

1619, April 9. — Captain Nathaniel Powell, President of the Council 
in Virginia. 

1619, April 19. — Sir George Yeardley, who had been knighted and 
appointed Governor and Captain-General, November 18, 1618, arrived 
in the Colony. 

1621, November 8. — Sir Francis Wyatt, Governor and Captain- 
General. 

1626, May 17. — Sir George Yeardley (commissioned March 4th), 
Governor and Captain-General; died November, 1627. 

1627, November 14.— Captain Francis West, President of the Council. 
(1628, March 26. — Sir John Harvey, appointed Governor and Cap- 
tain-General, but did not arrive until later. In the interim, as follows :) 

1629, March 5. — Dr. John Pott, President of the Council. 

1630, March — . — Sir John Harvey, Governor and Captain-General, 
"thrust out of his government" bv the people, but recommissioned 
by King Charles I, January 11, 1035. Until his arrival, April 2, 1636, 
the Executive was: 



OF Virginia and Virginians 231 

1635, April 28. — Captain John West, President of the Council. 

1G36, April 2. — Sir John Harvey, Governor and Captain-General. 

1G39, November — . — Sir Francis Wyatt, Governor and Captain- 
General. 

1642, February — . — Sir William Berkeley, who had been com- 
missioned August 9, 1641, arrived as Governor and Captain-General. 

1644, June — . — Richard Kempe, President of the Council, Acting 
Governor during the absence of Sir William Berkeley in England. 

1645, June — . — Sir William Berkeley, Governor. 

1652, April 30. — Richard Bennett, Acting Governor under the Com- 
monwealth of Cromwell. 

1655, March — . — Edward Digges, President of the Council under 
the Commonwealth of Cromwell. 

1658, March 13. — Captain Samuel Matthews, President of the Coun- 
cil under the Commonwealth of Cromwell until January, 1660, from 
which time the Colony was without a Governor until the election by 
the Assemblv. 

1660, March 23. — Of Sir William Berkeley as Governor. He was 
commissioned as such by Charles II, July 31, 1660. 

1661, April 30. — Colonel Francis Morryson, Deputy or Lieutenant- 
Governor. 

1662, fall of. — Sir William Berkeley, Governor. 

(1675, July 8. — Thomas Lord Culpeper, appointed Governor and 
Captain-General for Ufe; died in 1719. Until his arrival:) 

1677, April 27. — Herbert Jeffreys, appointed Governor October 9, 
1 676 (with Captain Robert Walter as his Deputy, who died October 
10, 1676); commissioned Lieutenant-Governor November 11, 1676; 
died December, 1678. 

1678, December 30. — Sir Henry Chicheley, Deputy Governor. 
1680, May 10. — Thomas Lord Culpeper, Governor and Captain- 
General. 

1683, September 17. — Nicholas Spencer, President of the Council. 

1684, April 16.— Francis Lord Howard, Baron Effingham, Lieu- 
tenant-Governor; commissioned September 28, 1683. 

1688, October 20. Nathaniel Bacon, President of the Council. 

1690. — Sir Lionel Copley, Governor. 

1690, October 16. — Colonel Francis Nicholson, Lieutenant-Governor. 

1693, October 16. — Sir Edmund Andros, who had been commis- 
sioned Governor, March 1, 1693. 

1698, December 9. — Colonel Francis Nicholson, Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor; commissioned July 20, 1698. 

1704. — George Hamilton Douglas, Earl of Orkney, commissioned 
Govemor-in-Chief ; never came to Virginia; died July 29, 1737. 

1705, August 15. — Edward Nott, Lieutenant-Governor; died 
August, 1706. 

1706, August — . — Edmund Jennings, President of the Council. 

(1707, April 4. — Colonel Robert Hunter, commissioned as Lieu- 
tenant-Governor, being captured by the French on his voyage for 
Virginia, and conveved to France, never acted.) 

1710, Tune 23. — Colonel Alexander Spotswood, Lieutenant-Governor. 
1722, September 27.— Hugh Drvsdale; died July 22, 1726. 
1726, July 22. — Robert Carter," President of the Council. 



232 Young People's History 

1727, October 23. — William Gooch (subsequently knighted), Lieu- 
tenant-Governor. 

(1737.— William Anne Keppel, second Earl of Albemarle, appointed 
Governor-in-Chief, September 6, 1737; died December 23, 1754.) 

1740. — Between September 16th and December 5th, as indicated 
by land patents signed respectively by Sir William Gooch and James 
Blair, D. D., the latter, as President of the Council, was Acting Gov- 
ernor during the absence of Sir William Gooch in command of the 
expedition against Carthagena. The last patent signed by James 
Blair was on July 25, 1741. 

1741, July — . — Sir William Gooch, Lieutenant-Governor. 

1749, June 20. — John Robinson, President of the Council. 

1749, September 5.- — Thomas Lee, President of the Council; died 
1751. 

1751, February 12. — Lewis Burwell, President of the Council. 

1751, November 20. — Robert Dinwiddie, Lieutenant-Governor. 

(1756, July — .- — John Campbell, Earl of Lotidotin, appointed Gov- 
ernor-in-Chief, and though he came to New York, was never in Virginia.) 

1758, January — . — John Blair, President of the Council. 

1758, June 7. — Francis Favirjuier, Lieutenant-Governor, appointed 
February 10, 1758. 

(1763. — Sir Jeffrey Amherst, appointed Govemor-in-Chief.) 

1767, September 11. — John Blair, President of the Cotmcil. 

1768, October 28. — Norbome Berkeley, Baron de Botetourt, Gov- 
emor-in-Chief; died October 15, 1770. 

1770, October 15. — William Nelson, President of the Council. 

1771, August — . — John Murray, Earl Dunmore, Governor-in-Chief, 
appointed July, 1771; fled June, 1775, from the seat of government. 



OF Virginia and Virginians 233 



GOVERNORS OF VIRGINIA 



1776, June 29. — Patrick Henry. 

1779, June 1. — Thomas Jefferson. 

1781, June 12. — Thomas Nelson, Jr., resigned. 

1781, November 20. — Benjamin Harrison. 

1784, November 29. — Patrick Henry. 

1786, December 1. — Edmund Randolph. 

1788, December 1. — Beverley Randolph. 

1791, December 1. — Henry Lee. 

1794, December 1. — Robert Brooks. 

1796, December 1. — James Wood. 

1799, December 1. — James Monroe. 

1802, December 1. — John Page. 

1805, December 1.— WilUam H. Cabell. 

1808, December 1. — John Tyler. 

1811, January 11. — James Monroe; appointed Secretary of State 
of the United States November 25, 1811. 

1811, November 25. — George William Smith, Lieutenant-Governor, 
and Acting Governor; died December 26, 1811. 

1811, December 20. — Peyton Randolph, Senior Member of Council 
of State. 

1812, January 3. — James Barbour, Governor. 
1814, December 1. — Wilson Cary Nicholas. 
1816, December 1. — James P. Preston. 

1819, December 1. — Thomas Mann Randolph. 

1822, December 1. — James Pleasants, Jr. 

1825, December 1.— John Tyler. 

1827, March — .— WilHam B. Giles. 

1830, March —.—John Floyd. 

1834, March — . — Littleton Waller Tazewell; resigned April 30, 1836. 

1836, April 30. — Wyndham Robertson, Lieutenant-Governor. 

1837, March —.—David Campbell. 

1840, March — . — Thomas Walker Gilmer; resigned to take his 
seat as a member of Congress. 

1841, March — . — John Rutherford, Lieutenant-Governor. 

1842, March — . — John M. Gregory, Lieutenant-Governor. 

1843, January — . — James McDowell, Governor. 
1846, Januarv — .—WilHam Smith. 

1849, January — . — John B. Floyd. 
1851, January 1. — Joseph Johnson. 
1856, January — . — Henry Alexander Wise. 
1860, January — . — John Letcher. 

1864, Jamiary —.—William Smith. 

1865, Mav 9.— Francis H. Pierpoint. 
1868, April 16.— Henrv H. Wells. 
1870, Januarv 20.— Gilbert C. Walker. 



234 



Young People's History 



1874, January 1 
1878, January 1 
1882, January 1 
1886, January 1 
1890, January 1 
1894, January 1 
1898, January 1 
1902, January 1 



— James L. Kemper. 

— Frederick W. M. Holliday. 

— William E. Cameron. 

— Fitzhugh Lee. 

— Philip W. McKinney. 

—Charles T. O'Ferrall. 

—J. Hoge Tyler. 

— A. J. Montague. 



OF Virginia and Virginians 235 



VIRGINIA BILL OF RIGHTS 



As adopted bv the Constitutional Convention and declared in force 
on and after July 10, 1902. 

A DECLARATION OF RIGHTS, made by the representatives of the 
good people of Virginia assembled in full and free Convention; 
which rights do pertain to them and their posterity, as the Basis and 
Foundation of Government. 

Section 1. That all men are by nature equally free and independent, 
and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a 
state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their 
posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means 
of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining 
happiness and safety. 

Sec. 2. That all power is vested in, and consequently derived from, 
the people; that magistrates are their trustees and servants, and at 
all times amenable to them. 

Sec. 3. That government is, or ought to be, instittited for the 
common benefit, protection, and security of the people, nation or 
community; of all the various modes and forms of government, that 
is best, which is capable of producing the greatest degree of happiness 
and safety, and is most effectually secured against the danger of 
maladministration; and, whenever any government shall be found 
inadequate or contrary to these purposes, a majority of the commu- 
nity hath an indubitable, inalienable, and indefeasible right to reform, 
alter or abolish it, in such manner as shall be judged most conducive 
to the public weal. 

Sec. 4. That no man, or set of men, is entitled to exclusive or 
separate emoluments or privileges from the community, but in con- 
sideration of public services; which not being descendible, neither 
ought the offices of magistrate, legislator or jtidge to be hereditary. 

Sec. 5. That the legislative, executive, and judicial departments 
of the State should be separate and distinct; and that the members 
thereof may be restrained from oppression, by feeling and participating 
the burthens of the people, they should, at fixed periods, be reduced 
to a private station, return into that body from which they were 
originally taken, and the vacancies be supplied by regular elections, 
in which all or any part of the former members shall be again eligible, 
or ineligible, as the laws may direct. 

Sec. 6. That all elections ought to be free; and that all men, having 
sufficient evidence of permanent common interest with, and attach- 
ment to, the community, have the right of suffrage, and cannot be 
taxed, or deprived of, or damaged in, their property for public uses, 
without their own consent, or that of their representatives duly elected, 



236 Young People's History 

or bound by any law to which they have not, in hke manner, assented 
for the pubhc good. 

Sec. 7. That all power of suspending laws, or the execution of laws, 
by any authority, without consent of the representatives of the people, 
is injurious to their rights, and ought not to be exercised. 

Sec. 8. That no man shall be deprived of his life, or liberty, except 
by the law of the land, or the judgment of his peers; nor shall any man 
be compelled in any criminal proceeding to give evidence against him- 
self, nor be put twice in jeopardy for the same offence, but an appeal 
may be allowed to the Commonwealth in all prosecutions for the viola- 
tion of a law relating to the state revenue. 

That in all criminal prosecutions a man hath a right to demand 
the cause and nature of his accusation, to be confronted with the accu- 
sers and witnesses, to call for evidence in his favor, and to a speedy 
trial by an impartial jury of his vicinage, without whose unanimous 
consent he cannot be found guilty; provided, however, that in any 
criminal case, upon a plea of guilty, tendered in person by the accused, 
and with the consent of the attorney for the Commonwealth, entered 
of record, the court shall, and in a prosecution for an offence not 
punishable by death, or confinement in the penitentiary, upon a 
plea of not guilty, with the consent of the accused, given in person, 
and of the attorney for the Commonwealth, both entered of record, 
the court, in its discretion, may hear and determine the case, without 
the intervention of a jury; and, that the General Assembly may pro- 
vide for the trial of offences not punishable by death, or confinement 
in the penitentiary, by a justice of the peace, without a jury, preserving 
in all such cases, the right of the accused to an appeal to and trial 
by jury in the circuit or corporation court; and may also provide for 
juries consisting of less than twelve, but not less than five, for the 
trial of offences not punishable by death, or confinement in the peniten- 
tiary, and may classify such cases, and prescribe the number of jurors 
for each class. 

Sec. 9. That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive 
fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 

Sec. 10. That general warrants, whereby an officer or messenger 
may be commanded to search suspected places without evidence of a 
fact committed, or to seize any person or persons not named, or whose 
offence is not particularly described and supported by evidence, are 
grievous and oppressive, and ought not to be granted. 

Sec. 11. That no person shall be deprived of his property without 
due process of law; and in controversies respecting property, and in 
suits between man and man, trial by jury is preferable to any other, 
and ought to be held sacred; but the General Assembly may limit the 
number of jurors for civil cases in circuit and corporation courts to 
not less than five in cases now cognizable by justices of the peace, 
or to not less than seven in cases not so cognizable. 

Sec. 12. That the freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks 
of liberty, and can never be restrained but by despotic governments; 
and any citizen may freely speak, write, and publish his sentiments 
on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that right. 

Sec. 13. That a well-regulated militia, composed of the body of 
the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural and safe defence 



OF Virginia and Virginians 237 

of a free state; that standing armies, in time of peace, should be 
avoided as dangerous to hberty; and that in all cases the military- 
should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil 
power. 

Sec. 14. That the people have a right to uniform government; and, 
therefore, that no government separate from, or independant of, 
the government of Virginia, ought to be erected or established within 
the limits thereof. 

Sec. 15. That no free government, or the blessing of liberty, can 
be preserved to any people, bt:t by a firm adherence to justice, modera- 
tion, temperance, frugality, and virtue, and by frec|uent recurrence 
to fundamental principles. 

Sec. 16. That religion, or the duty which we owe to our Creator, 
and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and 
conviction, not by force or violence; and, therefore, all men are equally 
entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of 
conscience; and that it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian 
forbearance, love and charity towards each other. 

Sec. 17. The rights enumerated in this Bill of Rights shall not be 
construed to limit other rights of the people not therein expressed. 



238 Young People's History 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776 

The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen 
United States of America 



When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for 
one people to dissolve the political bands which ha\e connected them 
with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the sepa- 
rate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's 
God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires 
that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created 
equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalien- 
able rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted 
among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the gov- 
erned. That, whenever any form of government becomes destructive 
of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and 
to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, 
and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most 
likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will 
dictate, that governments long established should not be changed for 
light and transient causes; and, accordingly, all experience hath 
shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are suffer- 
able, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they 
are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, 
pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to redtice them 
under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw 
off such government, and to provide new guards for their future 
secui-ity. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies, 
and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their 
former systems of government. The history of the present King of 
Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all 
having in direct object the estabHshment of an absolute tyranny 
over these States. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid 
world : 

He has refused to assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary 
for the public good. 

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and 
pressing importance, unless suspended in their operations till his assent 
should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected 
to attend to them. 

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large 
districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of 



OF Virginia and Virginians 239 

representation in the legislature — a right inestimable to them, and 
formidable to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncom- 
fortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for 
the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. 

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly for opposing, 
with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people. 

He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to cause 
others to be elected, whereby the legislative powers, incapable of 
annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; 
the State remaining, in the meantime, exposed to all the dangers of 
invasion from without and convulsions within. 

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States; for 
that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; 
refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising 
the conditions of new appropriations of lands. 

He has obstructed the administration of justice by refusing his 
assent to laws for establishing the judiciary powers. 

He has made judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of 
their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms 
of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance. 

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, without 
the consent of our legislatures. 

He has affected to render the military independent of, and superior 
to, the civil power. 

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreigii 
to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his 
assent to their acts of pretended legislation: 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us; 

For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any 
murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these States; 

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world; 

For imposing taxes on us without our consent; 

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury; 

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offences; 

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring 
province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging 
Its boundaries, so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument 
for introducing the same absolute rule into these colonies; 

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, 
and altering, fundamentally, the forms of our governments; 

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves 
invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. 

He has abdicated government here by declaring tis out of his pro- 
tection, and waging war against us. 

He has plundered otir seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, 
and destroyed the lives of our people. 

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries 
to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already 
begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy, scarcely paralleled 
in most barbarous ages, and totally vmworthy the head of a civilized 
nation. 



240 Young People's History 

He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on the high 
seas, to bear arms against their cotintry, to become the executioners 
of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands. 

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has en- 
deavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless 
Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished 
destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions. 

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress 
in the most humble terms; our repeated petitions have been answered 
only by repeated injury. A prince whose character is thus marked 
by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a 
free people. 

Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. 
We have warned them, from time to time, of attempts by their legis- 
lature to extend unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have 
reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement 
here. We have appealed to their native jtistice and magnanimity, 
and we have conjured them, by the ties of our common kindred, to 
disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our 
connections and correspondence. They, too, have been deaf to the 
voice of justice and of consangtiinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce 
in the necessity which denounces our separation, and hold them, as 
we hold the rest of mankind — enemies in war; in peace, friends. 

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of Amer- 
ica, in General Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge 
of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name and 
by authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish 
and declare. That these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, 
Free and Independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance 
to the British crown, and that all political connection between them 
and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved; 
and that, as Free and Independent States, they have full power to levy 
war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to 
do all other acts and things which Independent States may of right do. 
And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the 
protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other 
our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. 

JOHN HANCOCK. 

New Hampshire. — Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew 
Thornton. 

Massachusetts Bay. — Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat 
Paine, Elbridge Gerry. 

Rhode Island, Etc. — Stephen Hopkins, William EUery. 

Connecticut. — Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Wil- 
liams, Oliver Wolcott. 

New York. — William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, 
Lewis Morris. 

New Jersey. — Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis 
Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark. 

Pennsylvania. — Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Frank- 
lin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James 
Wilson, George Ross. 



OF Virginia and Virginians 241 

Delaware. — Csesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas M'Kean. 

Maryl'and. — Samuel Chase, WiUiam Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles 
Carroll, of Carrollton. 

Virginia. — George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, 
Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, 
Carter Braxton. 

North Carolina. — William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn. 

South Carolina. — Edward Rutledge, Thomas Hey~ward, Jr., 
Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton. 

Georgia. — Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton. 



INDEX 



(Numbers refer to pages.) 



Adams, John, 147. 

Agriculture in Colonial Times, 107. 

Algonquin, family of Indians, 28. 

Amidas and Barlow, voyage of, 13. 

Amusements in Colonial Times, 
119. 

Anderson, Major, 186. 

Anne, crowned Queen, 96. 

Appomattox, surrender at, 204. 

Argall, Captain, captures Poca- 
hontas, 59; governor of Vir- 
ginia, 64; his dishonesty, 64. 

Army Northern Virginia, Mr. 
Swinton's estimate of, 210. 

Arnold, Benedict, in Virginia, 152. 

Assembly, first Colonial, 64. 

Bacon, Nathaniel, settles in Vir- 
ginia, 83; character of, 83; 
chosen leader, 84; contention 
with Berkeley, 84-88; death 
of, 89. 

Bacon's Rebellion, 84-91. 

Baltimore, (First) Lord, visits 
Virginia, 72; settles Mary- 
land, 72; death of, 72. 

Baltimore, (Second) Lord, driven 
from Maryland, 73; returns, 
73. 

Baptists, persecuted, 71; aiTd Es- 
tabUshed Church, 147. 

Barlow and Amidas, voyage of, 13. 

Beauregard, General, captures 
Sumter, 186-187; at first 
Manassas, 192. 

Bennett, Richard, governor of 
Virginia, 78. 

Berkeley, Sir William, governor 
of Virginia, 73 ; resists Crom- 
well, 78; re-elected governor, 
79; opposition to education, 
80; and Bacon, 84-90; death 
of, 91. 



[243] 



Bermudas, wrecked colonists on 
the, 49. 

Big Bethel, battle of, 192. 

Bill of Rights, 135, 230. 

Blackbeard, death of, 98. 

Blair, James, founds William and 
Mary, 94. 

Bland, Giles, hanged, 90. 

Boone, Daniel, 227. 

Boonsboio, battle of, 195. 

Boston, occupied by British, 133; 
Tea Party at, 133. 

Botetourt, Lord, governor of Vir- 
ginia, 131; death of, 133. 

Braddock, General, expedition 
under, 126; defeat of, 126. 

Brandy Station, battle of, 208. 

Breckenridge, General, at New 
Market, 202. 

Brooke, Col. John M., 205. 

Brown, John, raid into Virginia, 
180; caotured and hanged, 
181. 

Buchanan, Admiral, 206. 

Buildings in Colonial Times, 111. 

Burgesses, House of; origin of 
name, 64. 

Bumside, General, placed in com- 
mand, 198; at Fredericks- 
burg, 198. 

Burr, Aaron, trial of, 170. 

Butler, B. F., 192. 

Butler, M. C, 217. 

Byrd, Colonel William, visits 
Germanna, 99; sketch of, 
100. 

Cabot, John, first voyage of, 10. 

Calvert (see Baltimore). 

Campbell. John A., 185. 

Cape Henry, naming of, 21. 

Cape Charles, naming of, 21. 

Capital disaster, 221. 



244 



Young People's History 



Carpet-baggers, 220. 

Cavaliers, 77, 106. 

Chancellorsville, battle of, 198. 

Charles I, becomes king, 68; sides 
with Sir John Harvey, 70. 

Charles II, invited to Virginia, 74; 
crowned king, 79; and royal 
grants, 80; proclamation con- 
demning Berkeley, 91. 

Charter, London Company, 
grants, 65. 

Cheeseman, Edmund, executed, 
90. 

Church, the first, 22. 

Claiborne, William, settles Kent's 
Island, 73; goes to England, 
73; driven from Maryland, 
73 ; triumph and defeat of, 79. 

Clarke, George Rogers, victories 
' of, 149. 

Clarke, WilHam, 169. 

Class Distinctions aboHshed, 225. 

Cold Harbor, battle of, 202. 

Colonists, voyage of, 21 ; charac- 
ter of, 22; number of, 36. 

Columbus, 9, 10. 

Commissioners from Seceded 
States, 184. 

Committee of Correspondence, 
the first, 132. 

Committee of Safety, 146. 

Confederate Capital, removed to 
Richmond, 190. 

Confederate States, provisional 
government organized, 181. 

Congress, the first Continental, 
134. 

Constitution U. S., agreed upon, 
165; ratified, 166. 

Constitution, London Company 
grants, 65. 

Constitution, State, revised, 221. 

Convention of 1787, 165. 

Conveyances in Colonial Times, 
114. 

Cornwallis, Lord, in Virginia, 
155, 156, 157; surrender of, 
157. 

Cromwell, action against Vir- 
ginia, 78. 

Culpeper, Lord, governor of Vir- 
ginia, 91. 



Dahlgren, Uric, raid of, 213. 
Dale, Sir Thomas, governor of 
Virginia, 59; government 
under, 61, 62; returns to 
England, 64. 
Dare, Virginia, where born, 17. 

Davis, Jefferson, made president, 

182; treatment of, 215. 
Declaration of Independence, 146, 
234. 

Delaware, Lord, appointed gov- 
ernor, 47 ; arrival of, 54 ; gov- 
ernment under, 57 ; return to 
England, 57. 

Dinwiddie, Governor, appoints 
Washington, 124. 

Drake, Sir Francis, voyage around 
the world, 11; visits Roanoke 
Island, 15. 

Dred Scott case, 179. 

Dress in Colonial Times, 115. 

Drummond, William, escapes 
from Jamestown, 88; hanged, 
90. 

Dunmore, Lord, governor of Vir- 
ginia, 133; suspicions against, 
138; purpose of, 138; seizes 
the powder, 140; flight of, 
143; driven from Virginia, 
144. 

Early, Jubal A., at Fredericks- 
burg, 198; defeats Hunter, 
213. 

Education of Indians, 31 ; in Colo- 
nial Times, 119. 

Elizabeth, crowned queen, 11; 
character of, 11; government 
under, 1 1 ; interest in coloni- 
zation, 12; death of, 19. 

Emancipation of slaves, 177. 

Emory and Henry, 120. 

England, territory claimed b}', 10. 

English, voyages of the, 10. 

Entail, laws'of, 119. 

Episcopal Church, in England, 71. 

Era of good feeling, 173. 

Established Church, fight against, 
147. 

Exports, 161. 

Fairfax, Lord, 124. 

Farlev, Captain, 217. 

Five Nations, 28. 



OF Virginia and Virginians 



245 



Food in Colonial Times, 116. 

France, aid from, 156. 

Fredericksburg, battle of, 198. 

Free negroes, 105. 

French, encroachments of the, 
124. 

Fugitive slave law, 179. 

Furniture in Colonial Times, 113. 

Gabriel, insurrection under, 175. 

Gates, Sir Thomas, wrecked on 
Bermudas, 48; arrives at 
Jamestown, 52. 

George III, crowned king, 128. 

Gettysburg, battle of, 201. 

Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, first ex- 
pedition under, 13. 

Gold fever, 38. 

Gold, searching for, 45. 

Gosnold, Bartholomew, 20, 25. 

Grant, U. S., placed in command, 
202; in The Wilderness, 202; 
at Petersburg, 202; at Appo- 
mattox, 204, 205; magni- 
nimity of, 216. 

Great Bridge, battle of, 143. 

Grenville, Sir Richard, 14, 16. 

Hansford, Colonel, surrenders 
Jamestown, 88; hanged, 90. 

Hampden-Sidney, 120. 

Harper's Ferry, capture of, 195. 

Harvey, Sir John, governor of 
Virginia, 70. 

Haskell, John, 217. 

Henry, Patrick, boyhood of, 126, 
127; in Parsons' Case, 127; 
in House of Burgesses, 128; 
speech in St. John's, 140; 
marches against Williams- 
burg, 142; commander-in- 
chief, 146; elected governor, 
146; anecdote of, 154; death 
of, 173. 

Hill, A. P., at Sharpsburg, 195; 
statue of, 222. 

Hooker, Joseph, placed in com- 
mand, 198; at Chancellors- 
ville, 198, 199. 

Hudson, Henry, 44. 

Huguenots, 100. 

HunteE< David, vandalism of, 212. 

Imports, 161. 

Indian hostiHties, 36, 44, 67, 74. 



Indians, origin of, 27; families, 
28; subdivisions, 28; appear- 
ance and dress, 28; how they 
lived, 29; characteristics, 31; 
■ weapons, 31; education, 32; 
religion, 32; fate, 32; Pow- 
hatan confederacy, 32. 

Iroquois, 28. 

Jackson, T. J., Valley campaign, 
194; in Seven Days' battles, 
194, 195; at Harper's Ferry, 
195; at Sharpsburg, 195; 
death of, 199; statue of, 222. 

James I, becomes king, 19; char- 
acter of, 20. 

James II, crowned king, 92. 

Jamestown, landing at, 22; num- 
ber of colonists, 36 ; measures 
for defence, 36; mortality at, 
37; fire of 1608, 38; deserted, 
52; named James Cittie, 67; 
burning of, 89. 

Jefferson, Thomas, writes Decla- 
ration of Independence, 147; 
escape of, 154; founds Uni- 
versity of Virginia, 166 ; anec- 
dotes of, 167; declines third 
term, 168; death of 168; 
statue of, 222. 

Johnston, Joseph E., at First Ma- 
nasses, 192; at Seven Pines, 
194. 

Kaskaskia, capture of, 149. 

Kemper, General, 221. 

Labrador, discovery of, 10. 

Lady Rebecca (see Pocahontas). 

Lafayette, General, sent to Vir- 
ginia, 152; revisits Virginia, 
157, 158. 

Lane, Ralph, settlement made by, 
14; tobacco first cultivated 
by, 16. 

Lee, Richard Henry, resolutions 
of, 146. 

Lee, Robert E., placed in com- 
mand, 194; Wolseley's esti- 
mate of, 196; surrenders, 
204; statue of, 222. 

Lewis, Andrew, at Point Pleasant, 
136, and Lord Dunmore, 138. 

Lewis and Clark, expedition of, 
169. 



246 



Young People's History 



Lewis, Meriwether, 169. 

Lexington, battle of, 140. 

Liberia, purchase of, 177. 

Liberty Hall Academy, 120. 

Life in Colonial Times, 117. 

Lincoln, Abraham, election of, 
181; inaugural address, 184; 
calls for troops, 187; assassi- 
nation of, 215. 

Live stock in Colonial Times, 108. 

London Company, organized, 20; 
dissolution of, 68. 

McClellan, Geo. B., placed in 
command, 192; in Seven 
Days' fight, 194, 195; at 
Sharpsburg, 195; removed 
from command, 197. 

McDowell, General, at Manassas, 
192. 

Madison, president, 173. 

Magellan, voyage around the 
world, 11. 

Magruder, J. B., 192, 193. 

Manassas, first battle of, 192. 

Marshall, chief justice, 170, 171. 

Maryland, religious liberty in, 71 ; 
settled, 72 ; origin of name, 73. 

Mason, George, 135. 

Massacre of 1622, 67. 

Massacre of 1644, 74. 

Maury, Matthew Fontaine, 227. 

Meade, General, placed in com- 
mand, 201; at Gettysburg, 
201; Virginia, 202. 

Mechanics in Colonial Times, 106. 

Medicines, made contrabrand, 
212. 

Merci^, sculptor, 222. _ 

Merrimac, renamed Virginia, 205. 

Methodism, 101. 

Minor, John, 176. 

Minute Men, 140. 

Monitor, fight with Virginia, 206. 

Monroe, President, 173. 

Monumental Church, 175. 

Monuments, 222. 

Morgan, Daniel, 148. 

Mount Vernon, 123, 124. 

Navigation Act, 80. 

Negroes, enfranchisement of, 220. 

Nelson, Governor, and the gun- 
ners, 157. 



New charter, 47. 

New England and slave trade, 176. 

New Market, battle of, 202. 

Newport, Christopher, expedition 
commanded by, 21 ; member 
of Virginia council, 25; visits 
Powhatan, 44; returns to 
England, 44. 

Non-Importation resolutions, 132. 

Norfolk, burning of, 144; chiet 
seaport, 161. 

North, Lord, 142. 

North Carolina, first voyage to, 14. 

Northern Neck, 81. 

Northwest Territorv, captured 
from British, 148, 149; ceded 
to United States, 150. 

Opecancanough, captures Smith, 
39; treachery of, 46; plans 
massacre, 67; death of, 74. 

Overseers, 105. 

Parsons' Case, 127. 

Paupers, 162. 

Pendleton, Edmund, 135, 140, 146. 

Percy, George, 51. 

Personal Liberty Laws, 179. 

Petersbtxrg, siege of, 202. 

Pierpoint, Governor, 221. 

Pocahontas, and Tecumseh, 34 
saves Smith, 40; entertains 
Smith and Newport, 45 
warns Smith, 46; capture of 
59; marriage and death of, 61 

Point Comfort, naming of, 21. 

Point Pleasant, battle of, 136. 

Pope, John, placed in command, 
195; at second Manassas, 195. 

Portugese, voyages of, 10. 

Potatoes, 39. 

Powhatan, confederacy of, 32; 
spares Smith, 40; coronation 
of, 45; anger of, 59; abdica- 
tion and death, 61. 

Presidents from Virginia, 173. 

Primogeniture, law of, 119, 148. 

Prisoners, North and South, 214, 
215. 

Raleigh, Sir Walter, introduction 
to the queen, 12; expeditions 
sent out by, 13, 14, 16; fate 
of, 16; anecdote of, 19. 

Randolph-Macon, 120. 



OF Virginia and Virginians 



247 



Ratcliffe, member of Virginia 
council, incapacity of, 44; 
death of, 52. 

Religious intolerance in Virginia, 
70. 

Religious liberty in United States, 
148. 

Religious proscription in Vir- 
ginia, 71. 

Religion of Indians, 32. 

Restoration of Charles II, 79. 

Revolution of 16S8, 92. 

Richmond, founded by Byrd, 100; 
Confederate capital, 190; fall 
of, 204. 

Richmond College, 120. 

Richmond Theatre, burning of, 
174. 

Roads in Colonial Times, 114. 

Roanoke College, 120. 

Roanoke Island, settlement made 
on, 14; abandonment of 
colony, 15; second settlement 
on, 16; disappearance of 
colony 17, 

Rockbridge Artillery, 210. 

Rolfe, John, marries Pocahontas, 
60, 61 ; cultivates tobacco, 61. 

Royalists, 224. 

St. John's Church, 139, 140. 

St. Mary's, settlement at, 73. 

Sachem, 28. 

San Miguel, settlement at, 12; 
footnote. 

Scalawags, 220. 

Scotch-Irish, valley settled by, 100. 

Sea Venture, wreck of, 48. 

Sedgwick. General, 198, 199. 

Settlers, the first, 103, 224. 

Seven Dav's battles, 194, 195. 

Seward, W. H., 184, 185. 

Sharpsburg, battle of, 195. 

Sheppard, artist, 222. 

Sherman, General, brutalities of. 
212. 

Six Nations, 28. 

Slavery, in other countries, 66; 
effects of, 67; Virginia pro- 
tests against, 175; encour- 
aged by England, 175; re- 
sponsibiHt}^ for, 177; not an 
unmixed evil, 180. 



Slaves, introduced, 65; emancipa- 
tion of, 177. 

Smith, Governor Geo. W., death 
of, 174. 

Smith, John, member of Virginia 
council, 20; sketch of, 24; 
captured, 39; condemned to 
death, 40; saved, 40; ex- 
plores the Chesapeake, 43; 
and Opecancanough, 47; ac- 
cident to, 50; leaves for 
England, 50; services and 
character of, 51; death of, 
51. 

Somers, Admiral, wrecked on 
Bermudas, 48; arrives at 
Jamestown, 52. 

South Carolina, secedes, 181. 

South Sea, search for, 14. 

Spaniards, voyages of, 10. 

Spotswood, Alexander, governor 
of Virginia, 96; enterprises, 96; 
expedition to the valley, 98. 

Stamp Act, passed, 128; repealed, 
130. 

Starving time, 52. 

Stuart, J. E. B., 208. 

Sumter, Fort, controversy over, 
184, 185, 186; surrender of, 
187. 

Tarleton, General, in Virginia, 
153, 154, 155. 

Taxes, difficulty of collecting, 160. 

Tecumseh and Pocahontas, 34. 

Tobacco, in Virginia, 61; as a 
medium of exchange, 108. 

Totem, 28. 

Turkeys, wild, 39. 

Turner, Nat, insurrection under, 
175. 

Tuscarora Indians, part of Six 
Nations, 28. 

University of Virginia, estab- 
Hshed, 120. 

Valentine, sculptor, 222. 

Vallev of Virginia, visiting expe- 
dition under Spotswood, 98; 
prosperitv of, 162; devas- 
tated, 212. 

Vincennes captured, 149. 

Virgin Qtieen (see Elizabeth). 



248 



Young People's History 



Virginia, origin of the name, 14; 
first charter, 20; loyalty of, 
77; seeks to maintain peace, 
182; at close of war, 219, 220; 
progress of, 221. 

Virginia, in Hampton Roads, 205, 
206. 

Virginians, origin of, 101 ; char- 
acter of, 150; self-control of, 
221; development of, 224; 
what they have accomplished 
226. 

Virginia Company, organized, 20. 

Virginia Convention, accepts con- 
stitution, 165. 

Virginia Council, members of, 25. 

Virginia Gazette, 101. 

Virginia Military Institute, estab- 
lished, 120; cadets at New 
Market, 203; officers from, 
210; buildings burned, 213. 

Virginia Resolutions, 146. 

Walker, Gilbert C, 221. 

Walker, Dr. Thomas, 226. 

Washington, George, boyhood of, 
123; appointed adjutant-gen- 
eral, 124; mission to the 



French, 124, 125; aide to 
Braddock, 126; placed in 
command, 126; elected presi- 
dent, 166; death of, 173. 

Washington and Lee University, 
120. 

Wealth in Colonial Times, 106. 

Wesley, John, 101. 

West Virginia, formation of, 220. 

White, John, first governor of 
Virginia, 17. 

Whitefield, George, 101. 

Williamsburg, capital of Vir- 
ginia, 94. 

William and Mary crowned, 92. 

WiUiam and Mary, college of, 94. 

Wingfield, 25, 37. 

Wives, how provided, 65. 

Wolseley, Lord, estimate of Lee, 
196. 

Wren, Sir Christopher, 94. 

Yeardley, George, governor of 
Virginia, 64. 

Yorktown, siege of, 156; surren- 
der of, 157. 

Zane, Elizabeth, 150. 



SEP 8 1904 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



014 366 436 3 



